Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, A. Smercina (STScI). Image Processing: A. Pagan (STScI)

Edge-on spiral galaxy Messier 82 (M82) has been an object of study by many observatories over the years, including NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and most recently the James Webb Space Telescope.

This side-by-side comparison shows the same region of M82 as seen by Hubble (left) and Webb (right). Hubble’s visible-light view is limited because of the amount of dust within M82, which shrouds the galaxy’s details. Bright, bluish light radiating from the center is due to star formation. A notable thick lane of dust, black in the center and red around the edges, diagonally stretches across the scene. Thinner strands and clumps of reddish dust cover the majority of the view.

With its ability to observe the near-infrared universe, Webb can pierce through the dusty environment of M82 and reveal what was once hidden to astronomers. With Webb, millions of individual stars within M82’s heart (seen here as luminous blue-white granules) are resolved in unprecedented clarity. Red-orange clumps, most noticeable toward the right, are small dust grains.

Provider: Space Telescope Science Institute

Image Source: /image/stsci/2026-115c

Curator: STScI, Baltimore, MD, USA

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