About the Object

Name: M 74
Distance: 32 million light years
Constellation: Pisces
Category: Galaxies
MIRI
NIRCam
Picture of the Month

Coordinates

Position (RA):1 36 41.79
Position (Dec):15° 47' 0.38"
Field of view:5.73 x 1.76 arcminutes
Orientation:North is 253.8° right of vertical



Colours & filters

BandWavelengthTelescope
Infrared 1.15 μmJames Webb Space Telescope
NIRCam
Infrared 1.5 μmJames Webb Space Telescope
NIRCam
Infrared
P-alpha
1.87 μmJames Webb Space Telescope
NIRCam
Infrared 2.0 μmJames Webb Space Telescope
NIRCam
Infrared 2.77 μmJames Webb Space Telescope
NIRCam
Infrared
PAH
3.35 μmJames Webb Space Telescope
NIRCam
Infrared
Br-alpha
4.05 μmJames Webb Space Telescope
NIRCam
Infrared 4.44 μmJames Webb Space Telescope
NIRCam
Infrared 5.6 μmJames Webb Space Telescope
MIRI
Infrared
PAH
7.7 μmJames Webb Space Telescope
MIRI

Catching the edge of the Phantom Galaxy

In August 2022, to mark the launch of the Picture of the Month series, ESA/Webb published a stunning image of the Phantom Galaxy (also known as M74 and NGC 628). Now, this series is revisiting the target to feature new data on this iconic spiral galaxy.

M74 resides around 32 million light-years away from Earth in the constellation Pisces, and lies almost face-on to Earth. This, coupled with its well-defined spiral arms, makes it a favourite target for astronomers studying the origin and structure of galactic spirals. 

This image features data from two of Webb’s instruments: MIRI (Mid-InfraRed Instrument) and NIRCam (Near-InfraRed Camera). Observations in the infrared reveal the galaxy’s creeping tendrils of gas, dust and stars. In this image the dark red regions trace the filamentary warm dust permeating the galaxy. The red regions show the reprocessed light from complex molecules forming on dust grains, while orange and yellow colours reveal the regions of gas ionised by the recently formed star clusters. Stellar feedback has a dramatic effect on the medium within the galaxy and creates a complex network of bright knots as well as cavernous black bubbles. The lack of gas in the nuclear region of this galaxy also provides an unobscured view of the nuclear star cluster at the galaxy's centre. M74 is a particular class of spiral galaxy known as a ‘grand design spiral’, meaning that its spiral arms are prominent and well-defined, unlike the patchy and ragged structure seen in some spiral galaxies.

M74 was observed by Webb as part of a series of observations collectively entitled Feedback in Emerging extrAgalactic Star clusTers, or FEAST (PI: A. Adamo). Many other targets of the FEAST programme, including NGC 4449, M51, and M83, were the subjects of previous ESA/Webb Picture of the Month images in 2023 and 2024. The FEAST observations were designed to shed light on the interplay between stellar feedback and star formation in environments outside the Milky Way galaxy. Stellar feedback is the term used to describe the outpouring of energy from stars into the environments which form them, and is a process that contributes significantly to determining the rates at which stars form. Understanding stellar feedback is vital for building accurate universal models of star formation.

The new Webb data obtained by the FEAST team has allowed scientists to look at the stellar nurseries in galaxies that are many light years away. Astronomers are learning how other galaxies are forming stars and how stars actively participate to model the galaxy interstellar medium. They have found that newly born stars slowly carve they gas and dust nurseries modifying the morphological appearance and essentially destructing them, as Webb has shown that this evolution is connected with star clusters. Furthermore, the team has concluded from their studies that the spiral arms captured by the extended coverage of the FEAST programme are the places where stars are forming more actively in the galaxy. The brighter and larger complexes of stellar nurseries are in the spiral arms fully captured by the new Webb data. The telescope is now revealing the map of hydrogen emission lines in the near-infrared. These lines are less affected than the dusts and reveals the places where new massive stars have just formed.

[Image Description: A large spiral galaxy takes up the entirety of the image. The core is mostly bright white, but there are also swirling, detailed structures that resemble water circling a drain. There is small white and pale blue light that emanates from stars and dust at the core’s centre, but it is tightly limited to the core. The rings feature colours of deep red and orange and highlight filaments of dust around cavernous black bubbles.]

Links

Credit:

ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, A. Adamo (Stockholm University) and the FEAST JWST team

About the Image

Id: potm2410a
Type: Observation
Release date: 29 October 2024, 10:00
Size: 8575 x 2629 px


Image Formats

Download IconLarge JPEG 12.2 MB
Download IconScreensize JPEG 208.5 KB

Zoomable


Wallpapers

Download Icon1024x768 644.9 KB
Download Icon1280x1024 1.0 MB
Download Icon1600x1200 1.5 MB
Download Icon1920x1200 1.8 MB
Download Icon2048x1536 1.7 MB

Also see our