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3D Classifications for Distant Galaxies in Webb’s CEERS Survey (NIRCam Image)

Six galaxies appear in boxes, three by two. From top left to bottom right: The three galaxies in the top row are labeled, elongated appearance. All three galaxies appear to form thin lines that take up less than a quarter of the frame. The galaxy at top left has a horizontal thin line with two dots beneath it; the center galaxy is a short line from top left to bottom right made up of individual dots, with a haze toward the center-left; the right galaxy is the longest line angles from top left to bottom right, and several dim dots above it. Along the lower row, the galaxies at left and center, labeled disk-like appearances, have hazy spiral shapes, and each take up about half of the frame. The galaxy at lower right, labeled spherical appearance, looks like a bright dot centered in the frame and is far smaller.

These are examples of distant galaxies captured by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope in its Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science (CEERS) Survey.

Recent research of the CEERS field led by Viraj Pandya, a NASA Hubble Fellow at Columbia University in New York, showed that galaxies frequently appear flat and elongated, like pool noodles or surfboards (along the top row).

Thin, circular disk-like galaxies, which resemble frisbees, are the next major grouping (bottom left and center).

Finally, galaxies that are shaped like spheres, or volleyballs, made up the smallest fraction of their detections (bottom right).

All of these galaxies are estimated to have existed when the universe was 600 million to 6 billion years old.

These results are still considered preliminary, because the team sorted images of galaxies into broad classes based on similar characteristics. (They did not classify their individual appearances since that would require detailed information from data known as spectra.) Much more analysis of many more distant galaxies is needed to fully determine which galaxy shapes and compositions existed in the early universe.

About the Object

  • R.A. Position
    R.A. PositionRight ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.
    14:19:46
  • Dec. Position
    Dec. PositionDeclination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.
    +52:53:37
  • Constellation
    ConstellationOne of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears.
    Boötes

About the Data

  • Data Description
    Data DescriptionProposal: A description of the observations, their scientific justification, and the links to the data available in the science archive.
    Science Team: The astronomers who planned the observations and analyzed the data. "PI" refers to the Principal Investigator.

    This image was created with Webb data from proposal: 1345 (S. Finkelstein). Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI).

  • Instrument
    InstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.
    NIRCam
  • Exposure Dates
    Exposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.
    20-21 Dec 2022, 24 Dec 2022
  • Filters
    FiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.
    F115W, F150W, F200W, F277W, F356W, F444W
  • Object Name
    Object NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
    CEERS Survey, Extended Groth Strip
  • Object Description
    Object DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.
    Deep field survey
  • Release Date
    January 17, 2024
  • Science Release
    Webb Shows Many Early Galaxies Looked Like Pool Noodles, Surfboards
    Read the release
  • Credit
    Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Steve Finkelstein (UT Austin), Micaela Bagley (UT Austin), Rebecca Larson (UT Austin)

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Six galaxies appear in boxes, three by two. From top left to bottom right: The three galaxies in the top row are labeled, elongated appearance. All three galaxies appear to form thin lines that take up less than a quarter of the frame. The galaxy at top left has a horizontal thin line with two dots beneath it; the center galaxy is a short line from top left to bottom right made up of individual dots, with a haze toward the center-left; the right galaxy is the longest line angles from top left to bottom right, and several dim dots above it. Along the lower row, the galaxies at left and center, labeled disk-like appearances, have hazy spiral shapes, and each take up about half of the frame. The galaxy at lower right, labeled spherical appearance, looks like a bright dot centered in the frame and is far smaller.
Color Info
Color InfoA brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented.

These images are a composite of separate exposures acquired by the James Webb Space Telescope using the NIRCam instrument. Several filters were used to sample wide wavelength ranges. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic (grayscale) image associated with an individual filter. In this case, the assigned colors are:   Blue: F115W+F150W Green: F200W + F277W Red: F356W + F444W

Related Images & Videos

In the far-left column are two galaxies that have been magnified. The top left galaxy appears circular and light pink with a slightly whiter central region, taking up less than one-sixth of the box. The bottom galaxy is elongated, stretching almost from top left to bottom right. It has a white line at the center that has a pink outline that transitions into bluish edges at far left and right. Thin lines from each magnified galaxy point to their appearances in the broader field. The top galaxy appears as a tiny dot at the upper center, and the bottom galaxy toward the left. Thousands of galaxies appear across most of this view, which is set against the black background of space. There are many overlapping objects at various distances. They include large, blue foreground stars, with Webb’s signature eight-pointed diffraction spikes, and white and pink spiral and elliptical galaxies. Numerous tiny red dots appear throughout the scene. This is a portion of a vast survey known in shorthand as CEERS.

Sample Shapes of Distant Galaxies Identified in Webb’s CEERS Survey (NIRCam Image)

For more than a century, astronomers have categorized galaxies near and far, both by comparing their shapes by eye and precisely measuring their properties with data known as spectra . For example, Edwin Hubble created the Hubble Tuning Fork in 1926 to begin to sort the shapes...

Illustrations of distant galaxy shapes appear in quadrants. Within each quadrant, there are two labels at top left, and two galaxy illustrations, a full 3D object at left and a cross section at right. From top left to bottom right: A figure resembling a spheroid or volleyball; a flattened disk that resembles a frisbee, also known as an oblate shape; a flattened oval that resembles a surfboard and is also labeled oval; and an elongated disk that looks like a solid pool noodle and is also labeled prolate.

Early Galaxy Shapes Detected by Webb (Artist Concept)

The James Webb Space Telescope is already helping researchers fine-tune their classifications of distant galaxies – adding significant speed and detail to analysis that has been underway for decades. Research led by Viraj Pandya, a NASA Hubble Fellow at Columbia University in...

Image titled “James Webb Space Telescope; Portion of the Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science (CEERS) Survey,” with compass arrows and color key. In the center is a near-infrared image of a field of galaxies and stars. At the top right are compass arrows indicating the orientation of the image on the sky. The east arrow points toward 8 o’clock. The north arrow points in the 11 o’clock direction. At the bottom right is a scale bar labeled 40 arcseconds. The length of the scale bar is about one eighth of the total image. Below the image is a color key showing which NIRCam filters were used to create the image and which visible-light color is assigned to each filter. NIRCam filters from left to right: F115W and F150W are blue; F200W and F277W are green; F356W and F444W are red.

Portion of Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science (CEERS) Survey (NIRCam Compass Image)

This is a portion of the Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science (CEERS) Survey , made up of several near-infrared pointings from NIRCam (the Near-Infrared Camera) aboard the James Webb Space Telescope. These observations are within the same region studied by the Hubble Space...

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Last Updated
Aug 28, 2025
Contact
Media

Laura Betz
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
laura.e.betz@nasa.gov

Image Credit

NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Steve Finkelstein (UT Austin), Micaela Bagley (UT Austin), Rebecca Larson (UT Austin)

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