Webb Snaps Breathtaking New Image of NGC 1559

Feb 28, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has captured a new photo of the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1559.



This Webb image shows NGC 1559, a barred spiral galaxy some 32 million light-years away in the constellation of Reticulum. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Webb / A. Leroy / J. Lee / PHANGS Team.

NGC 1559 is located approximately 32 million light-years away in the southern constellation of Reticulum.
Also known as LEDA 14814, ESO 84-10 and IRAS 04170-6253, the galaxy was discovered by the Scottish astronomer James Dunlop in 1826.

NGC 1559 has massive spiral arms chock-full of star formation, and is receding from us at a speed of about 1,300 km/s.
It contains a mass of around 10 billion solar masses — while this may sound like a lot, that is almost 100 times less massive than our Milky Way Galaxy.

. . .

The image of NGC 1559 is made up of observations from two of Webb’s instruments: the Mid-InfraRed Instrument (MIRI) and Near-InfraRed Camera (NIRCam).

“Here MIRI captures the glow of interstellar dust grains, which trace out the interstellar medium, the fuel for future star formation,” the astronomers explained. “NIRCam shows the light from stars, even young stars hidden behind prodigious amounts of dust.”

More:
https://www.sci.news/astronomy/webb-image-ngc-1559-12725.html