Transition video: M82 (NIRCam and MIRI images)

This video showcases two new Webb views of M82, which is situated just 12 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. 

Despite being smaller than the Milky Way, M82 is five times as luminous as our home galaxy and forms stars ten times faster. M82 is classified as a starburst galaxy because it is forming new stars at a rate much faster than expected for a galaxy of its mass, especially at its centre. In visible-light images of M82, the central hotbed of activity is obscured by a network of thick and dusty clouds, but Webb’s infrared eyes are designed to peer through this cloudy veil and reveal the activity behind them.