Sextans A Context image (Webb and KPNO)

stsci_2026-102b January 6th, 2026

Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, E. Tarantino, KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA, P. Massey (Lowell Obs.), G. Jacoby, K. Olsen, & C. Smith (AURA/NSF) Image Processing: A. Pagan (STScI), T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF’s NOIRLab), M. Zamani (NSF’s NOIRLab) & D. de Martin (NSF’s NOIRLab)

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s image of a portion of the nearby Sextans A galaxy is put into context using a ground-based image from the Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. The image from Webb shows the galaxy in both near- and mid-infrared light, while Kitt Peak captures optical, or visible, light.

Sextans A is an irregular dwarf galaxy, and is only 4 million light-years away, which is nearby to the Milky Way in relative terms. It’s also a fairly small galaxy, measuring 5,000 light-years across (the Milky Way is about 100,000 light-years across). Sextans A is chemically primitive, meaning it has a very low content of metals heavier than hydrogen and helium.

Provider: Space Telescope Science Institute

Image Source: https://science.nasa.gov/missions/webb/nasa-webb-finds-early-universe-analogs-unexpected-talent-for-making-dust/

Curator: STScI, Baltimore, MD, USA

Image Use Policy: https://www.stsci.edu/copyright