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Galaxy Protocluster (NIRCam Compass Image)

Telescope image of many galaxies, with infographic overlays. At the bottom left are compass arrows indicating the orientation of the image on the sky. The north arrow points in the 1 o’clock direction. The east arrow points toward 10 o’clock. At the lower right is a scale bar labeled 15 arc seconds. Below the image is a color key showing which Near-Infrared Camera filters were used to create the image and which visible-light color is assigned to each filter. From left to right, filters are: F115W, blue. F150W, blue. F200W, green. F277W, green. F356W, red. F444W, red.

Image of a distant galaxy protocluster in the early universe, captured by the Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) on NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, with compass arrows, scale bar, and color 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 labeled in arc seconds, which is a measure of angular distance on the sky. One arc second is equal to 1/3600 of one degree of arc. (The full Moon has an angular diameter of about 0.5 degrees.) The actual size of an object that covers one arc second on the sky depends on its distance from the telescope.

The color key shows the NIRCam filters used. The color of each filter name is the visible light color used to represent the infrared light that passed through that filter.

Read the full image caption.

About the Object

  • R.A. Position
    R.A. PositionRight ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.
    00:14:18.25
  • Dec. Position
    Dec. PositionDeclination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.
    -30:22:46.04
  • Constellation
    ConstellationOne of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears.
    Sculptor
  • 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.
    3.5 billion light-years to main cluster

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: 2561 (I. Labbe).

  • 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.
    2 Nov 2022, 15 Nov 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.
    Pandora's Cluster, Abell 2744
  • Object Description
    Object DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.
    Galaxy Cluster and Gravitational Lens
  • Release Date
    April 24, 2023
  • Science Release
    Webb Reveals Early-Universe Prequel to Huge Galaxy Cluster
    Read the release
  • Credit
    Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, Takahiro Morishita (Caltech/IPAC); Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)

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Telescope image of many galaxies, with infographic overlays. At the bottom left are compass arrows indicating the orientation of the image on the sky. The north arrow points in the 1 o’clock direction. The east arrow points toward 10 o’clock. At the lower right is a scale bar labeled 15 arc seconds. Below the image is a color key showing which Near-Infrared Camera filters were used to create the image and which visible-light color is assigned to each filter. From left to right, filters are: F115W, blue. F150W, blue. F200W, green. F277W, green. F356W, red. F444W, red.
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 specific 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

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Galaxy Protocluster (NIRCam Image)

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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, Takahiro Morishita (Caltech/IPAC)

Image Processing Credit

Alyssa Pagan (STScI)

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