In a New Image, NASA Captures 16.5M Stars of the Cigar Galaxy
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has captured a new image of the Cigar Galaxy (Messier 82), revealing approximately 16.5 million stars in unprecedented detail. The image showcases intense star formation and the galaxy's dramatic outflow of gas and dust.
Background
- Messier 82 (M82), nicknamed the Cigar Galaxy, is a starburst galaxy about 12 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major — meaning it's forming new stars at a ferocious rate, roughly 10 times faster than our Milky Way.
- The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), launched in 2021, is NASA's premier infrared observatory. Unlike the Hubble Space Telescope (which sees mainly visible light), JWST peers through dust clouds to reveal otherwise hidden star-forming regions.
- This new image captures roughly 16.5 million individually resolved stars in M82, giving astronomers an unprecedented census of the galaxy's stellar population and helping clarify how extreme star formation shapes galaxies over time.