Webb captures spiral galaxy LEDA 2046648 among thousands of others

This image from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope shows dense regions of galaxies clustered together with bright stars crowned with Webb’s signature six-point diffraction spike.

The large spiral galaxy at the bottom of the image is accompanied by numerous smaller, more distant galaxies ranging from fully formed spirals to mere bright blotches. The star, named LEDA 2046648, lies in the constellation Hercules, just over a billion light years away from Earth.

One of Webb’s primary scientific goals is to observe distant and therefore ancient galaxies to understand the details of their formation, evolution and composition. Webb’s sharp infrared vision helps telescopes see back in time. infrared wavelength.

It would be helpful to compare these galaxy fossils with modern galaxies Astronomer Understand how galaxies grew and formed the structures we see in the universe today. Webb also chemical composition How Thousands of Galaxies Shine Light heavy element It was formed and built as the galaxy evolved.

To take full advantage of Webb’s galactic archaeological potential, astronomers and engineers must first tune the telescope’s instruments and systems. Each of Webb’s instruments contains a maze-like array of mirrors and other optical elements that redirect and focus the starlight collected by Webb’s primary mirror.

This particular observation was part of Webb’s Near-Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrometer (NIRISS) commissioning campaign. In addition to performing science on its own, NIRISS supports parallel observations with Webb’s near-infrared camera (NIRCam). NIRCam captured this galaxy-encrusted image while his NIRISS observed the well-studied star white dwarf WD1657+343. This will allow the astronomer to interpret and compare data from his two different instruments to characterize NIRISS’ performance.