Yet another stunning image was released by the Webb telescope on September 27 – that of a galaxy which lies over 29 million miles away from Earth (IC 5332), and is about 66,000 light years across. And it’s all because of its Mid-InfraRed Instrument (MIRI)—this instrument “sees” in the mid-infrared range (wavelength range of about 1,300 nm to 3,000 nm, or 1.3 to 3 microns with a frequency range that spans 20 THz to 215 THz), and so strips away clouds of gas and dust which obscure the finer structural details of a nebula or galaxy, and to reveal faint stars. The mid-infrared range is extremely difficult to observe on Earth, because it’s largely absorbed by Earth’s atmosphere.
The MIRI operates at extremely cold temperatures–it operates 33 °C below the rest of the observatory at the frosty temperature of –266 °C. It is the only instrument on board which can detect the mid-infrared wavelengths, and must be kept at such low temperatures so that it won’t detect its own heat signature.
The European Space Agency website presents an interactive screen image–one side showing the image of the same galaxy made by Hubble, and the other by Webb. One can toggle the mid-line of the image to reveal the underlying structures of the galaxy that are invisible to Hubble. The image by Hubble is beautiful enough, but when one toggles to view the Webb image, it is nothing short of stunning—incredible details, colors and stars are unveiled in crystal clarity.
We view our own galaxy, the Milky Way, “edge on” as we look up to the heavens in a dark night sky, but the IC 5332 galaxy is practically face-on to Earth, so we can study the symmetry and intricacy of its spiral arms.
One can only anticipate with excitement the future wonders that Webb can reveal.
View the photos here: [[https://esawebb.org/images/comparisons/potm2209a/]]
