Spiral Galaxy NGC 2566 from Webb

Spiral Galaxy NGC 2566 from Webb

Image Credit:
ESA/Webb,
NASA &
CSA, A. Leroy

Explanation:
What’s happening in the center of spiral galaxy NGC 2566?

First, the eight rays that appear to be coming out of the center in the
featured
infrared
image
are not real — they are
diffraction
spikes caused by the
mechanical structure of the
Webb
space telescope itself.

The center
of NGC 2566 is bright but not considered unusual,
which means that it likely contains a supermassive black hole, although currently
not very active.

At only 76 million
light years away,
the light we see from NGC 2566 today left when
dinosaurs roamed the Earth.

The picturesque galaxy is close enough so that Earthly telescopes,
including
Webb and
Hubble,
can resolve the turbulent clouds of gas and dust where
stars can form and so allows study of
stellar evolution.

NGC 2566, similar in size to our
Milky Way Galaxy, is notable for its
bright central bar
and its prominent outer spiral arms.