M83 (MIRI image)

The barred spiral galaxy Messier 83 (M83) is featured in detail in this image from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope. M83, which is also known as NGC 5236, was observed for this image with the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI). Now, further data from MIRI has enabled a new discovery in M83. 

Astronomers using Webb have discovered evidence that suggests the presence of a long-sought supermassive black hole at the heart of the nearby spiral galaxy M83. This surprising finding, made possible by Webb’s MIRI, reveals highly ionised neon gas that could be a telltale signature of an active galactic nucleus (AGN), a growing black hole at the center of a galaxy.

This image was compiled using data collected through just two of MIRI’s ten filters, near the short end of the instrument’s wavelength range. The result is this extraordinarily detailed image, with its creeping tendrils of gas, dust and stars. In this image, the bright blue shows the distribution of stars across the central part of the galaxy. The bright yellow regions that weave through the spiral arms indicate concentrations of active stellar nurseries, where new stars are forming. The orange-red areas indicate the distribution of a type of carbon-based compound known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (or PAHs) — the F770W filter, one of the two used here, is particularly suited to imaging these important molecules.

The data for this image come from a series of observations collectively titled Feedback in Emerging extrAgalactic Star clusTers, or FEAST. 

[Image Description: A close-up view of a barred spiral galaxy. Two spiral arms reach horizontally away from the core in the centre, merging into a broad network of gas and dust which fills the image. This material glows brightest orange along the path of the arms, and is darker red across the rest of the galaxy. Through many gaps in the dust, countless tiny stars can be seen, most densely around the core.]