M82 (Webb and Hubble images, annotated)

Annotated image of the starburst galaxy Messier 82 captured by Webb's NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) instrument, with compass arrows, a scale bar, and colour key for reference.

The north and east compass arrows show the orientation of the image on the sky. Note that the relationship between north and east on the sky (as seen from below) is flipped relative to direction arrows on a map of the ground (as seen from above).

The scale bar is labelled in light-years.

This image shows invisible near-infrared wavelengths of light that have been translated into visible-light colours. The colour key shows which NIRCam filters were used when collecting the light. The colour of each filter name is the visible light colour used to represent the infrared light that passes through that filter.

[Image description: Left: Messier 82 as imaged by Hubble. Hour-glass-shaped red plumes of gas are shooting outward from above and below a bright blue, disc-shaped centre of a galaxy. This galaxy is surrounded by many white stars and set against the black background of space. Right: A section of Messier 82 as imaged by Webb. An edge-on spiral starburst galaxy with a bright white, glowing core set against the black background of space. A white band of the edge-on disc extends from lower left to upper right. Dark brown tendrils of dust are scattered thinly along this band. Many clumpy, red filaments extend vertically above and below the plane of the galaxy.]

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