Overview

• The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has captured detailed images of 19 spiral galaxies as part of the Physics at High Angular resolution in Nearby GalaxieS (PHANGS) program.
• The images reveal the galaxies in infrared light, showing the galactic arms, dense cores, and the locations of supermassive black holes.
• The JWST's imaging capabilities exceed those of the Hubble Space Telescope, revealing more details and different aspects of the galaxies.
• Several of the galaxies imaged have peculiarities, such as NGC 4254 which forms stars three times as fast as similar galaxies, possibly due to interaction with another galaxy.
• The data from the JWST will fuel astronomical research for years to come, with the PHANGS program providing a catalogue of about 100,000 star clusters.