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Galaxies IC 2163 and NGC 2207 (Webb MIRI Image)

Two spiral galaxies take up almost the entire view and appear to be overlapping. They are angled from top left to bottom right. The galaxy at left, IC 2163, is smaller and more compact than the galaxy at right, NGC 2207. The background of space is black, dotted with tiny foreground stars and extremely distant galaxies.

The James Webb Space Telescope’s mid-infrared image of galaxies IC 2163 and NGC 2207 recalls the iciness of long-dead bones mixed with eerie vapors. Two large luminous “eyes” lie at the galaxies’ cores, and gauzy spiral arms reach out into the vast distances of space. 

Webb’s mid-infrared image excels at showing where the cold dust glows throughout these galaxies — and helps pinpoint where stars and star clusters are buried within the dust. Find these regions by looking for the pink dots along the spiral arms. Many of these areas are home to actively forming stars that are still encased in the gas and dust that feeds their growth. Other pink dots may be objects that lie well behind these galaxies, including extremely distant active supermassive black holes known as quasars.

The largest, brightest pink region that glimmers with eight prominent diffraction spikes at the bottom right is a mini starburst — a location where many stars are forming in quick succession. Find the lace-like holes in the spiral arms. These areas are brimming with star formation. 

Finally, scan the black background of space, where objects shine brightly in a rainbow of colors. Blue circles with tiny diffraction spikes are foreground stars. Objects without spikes are very distant galaxies.

Compare the Hubble and Webb images.

Extended Description and Image Alt Text

Extended Description

Two spiral galaxies take up almost the entire view, both set against the black background of space. They are roughly shaped like an angled masquerade mask that sits above the nose. The galaxy at left, IC 2163, is smaller than the galaxy at right, taking about a little over a quarter of the view, with edges of its spiral arms reaching the top left. The galaxy at bottom right, NGC 2207, takes up half the view, with edges of its spiral arms reaching the bottom. The two galaxies overlap at the center of the frame, with the smaller IC 2163 behind the larger NGC 2207.

IC 2163

IC 2163 has a bright white core. White dust lanes wind their way out from the core. One prominent white arm with flecks of pink stars starts around 2 o’clock and winds clockwise. It’s round where it loops around the bottom of the galaxy, and ends in a long, arced line at the upper left. Many other thinner and shorter dust lanes and star clusters fill in the area between this larger spiral arm’s edge and the galaxy’s core, like the ribs of a fan. Another prominent white spiral arm starts near 8 o’clock, winds tightly clockwise around the top of the galaxy’s core, and then lengthens out above the galaxy, behind the neighboring NGC 2207, ending in a long arc. The overlap makes it difficult to differentiate this arm from the larger galaxy.

NGC 2207

At right, NGC 2207, has a very bright core that is much larger. Thin white dust lanes are close to the core, spinning counter clockwise. This galaxy also has several large spiral arms. These large spiral arms are made of white filaments of dust that surround many dark circular or oval-shaped cavities. A thicker arm begins at the core, around 6 o’clock, spinning around in wider, less circular shape before it completes its first full loop around the core. This arm meets the top spiral arm of IC 2163, continues to travel toward the bottom, and fans out to meet other white arms. What looks like two shorter arms are to the left of this lower area, closer to IC 2163, both pointing to the bottom left corner. The large arm continues winding around the galaxy, ending at the 4 o’clock position. Another prominent spiral arm begins at the galaxy’s core near 12 o’clock, winding counter clockwise around the core, maintaining a tighter, but loose circle near the core. It lengthens out a bit after that, winding toward the top again, with a wide lane. When it winds around to meet IC 2163 at its left, its ragged arm covers part of the core of the smaller galaxy, ending just below it. There are many more significant areas of pink star clusters throughout this galaxy overall.

Background

Large portions of the bottom left and top right show the black background of space. The foreground is dotted with several stars, one at top left, two toward the top right, and one at bottom right, all blue with four prominent diffraction spikes. Extremely distant galaxies appear throughout the background, and are most often smaller smudges of yellow, orange, pink, and red.

Image Alt Text

Two spiral galaxies take up almost the entire view and appear to be overlapping. They are angled from top left to bottom right. The galaxy at left, IC 2163, is smaller and more compact than the galaxy at right, NGC 2207. The background of space is black, dotted with tiny foreground stars and extremely distant galaxies.

About the Object

  • R.A. Position
    R.A. PositionRight ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.
    06:16:24.9
  • Dec. Position
    Dec. PositionDeclination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.
    -21:22:26
  • Constellation
    ConstellationOne of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears.
    Canis Major
  • Distance
    DistanceThe physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs.
    114 million light-years
  • Dimensions
    DimensionsThe physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky.
    The image is about 4.7 arcminutes across (about 156,000 light-years)

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 6553 (M. Garcia Marin). Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)

  • Instrument
    InstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.
    MIRI
  • Exposure Dates
    Exposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.
    January 26, February 2, 2024
  • Filters
    FiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.
    F750W, F1130W, F1500W
  • Object Name
    Object NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
    IC 2163 and NGC 2207
  • Object Description
    Object DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.
    Spiral Galaxies
  • Release Date
    October 31, 2024
  • Science Release
    ‘Blood-Soaked’ Eyes: NASA’s Webb, Hubble Examine Galaxy Pair
  • Credit
    Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI

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Two spiral galaxies take up almost the entire view and appear to be overlapping. They are angled from top left to bottom right. The galaxy at left, IC 2163, is smaller and more compact than the galaxy at right, NGC 2207. The background of space is black, dotted with tiny foreground stars and extremely distant galaxies.
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 MIRI 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: F750W Green: F1130W Red: F1500W

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Details

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