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M82 Cigar Galaxy (NIRCam Image)

Edge-on spiral starburst galaxy Messier 82 as imaged by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. Hourglass-shaped red-orange plumes of material are shooting outward from above and below a bright blue-white, disk-shaped center. Messier 82 is set against the black background of space, which has many distant galaxies that appear as small white and orange spirals, ovals, and points of light. Toward the right of Messier 82 is a blue-white star with eight-pointed diffraction spikes that are characteristic of Webb.

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope recently observed edge-on starburst galaxy Messier 82 (M82), nicknamed the Cigar Galaxy. Webb’s near-infrared-light view is a snapshot in time, revealing a scene that has been evolving over a couple hundred million years. In near-infrared light, astronomers can see the galaxy’s distended disk structure and millions of individual stars — approximately 16.5 million — for the first time.

Webb’s imaging survey of the galaxy is helping astronomers investigate the formation history of M82 and will also shed light on the current processes occurring within the starburst galaxy.

About the Object

  • R.A. Position
    R.A. PositionRight ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.
    09:55:52.0
  • Dec. Position
    Dec. PositionDeclination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.
    69:40:48.99
  • Constellation
    ConstellationOne of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears.
    Ursa 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.
    12 million light-years
  • Dimensions
    DimensionsThe physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky.
    This image is 9 arcminutes across (about 32,000 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: 5145 (A. Smercina)

  • Instrument
    InstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.
    JWST>NIRCam
  • Exposure Dates
    Exposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.
    JWST> 15 March 2025
  • Filters
    FiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.
    JWST> F115W, F200W, F335M, F444W
  • Object Name
    Object NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
    M82, The Cigar Galaxy
  • Object Description
    Object DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.
    Starburst Galaxy
  • Release Date
    June 23, 2026
  • Science Release
    NASA’s Webb Pinpoints Millions of Stars Within Cigar Galaxy
    Read the release
  • Credit
    Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, Adam Smercina (STScI, Tufts), Thomas Williams (University of Manchester); Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)

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Edge-on spiral starburst galaxy Messier 82 as imaged by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. Hourglass-shaped red-orange plumes of material are shooting outward from above and below a bright blue-white, disk-shaped center. Messier 82 is set against the black background of space, which has many distant galaxies that appear as small white and orange spirals, ovals, and points of light. Toward the right of Messier 82 is a blue-white star with eight-pointed diffraction spikes that are characteristic of Webb.
Color Info
Color InfoA brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented.

This image is a composite of separate exposures acquired by the James Webb Space Telescope using the NIRCam instrument. Several filters were used to sample varying 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, Cyan: F200W, Orange: F335M, Red: F444W

Related Images & Videos

Composite image of edge-on spiral starburst galaxy Messier 82 as observed by NASA's James Webb and Hubble space telescopes. Hourglass-shaped plumes of gas are shooting outward from above and below a bright blue-white, disk-shaped center. The plumes are yellow near the galaxyu2019s bright center, denoting areas of ionized hydrogen gas as observed by Hubble, and gradually become redder as you move farther away. Messier 82 is set against the black background of space, which has many distant galaxies that appear as small white and orange spirals, ovals, and points of light. Toward the right of Messier 82 is a blue-white star with eight-pointed diffraction spikes that are characteristic of Webb.

M82 Cigar Galaxy (Webb + Hubble)

Scientists used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to image edge-on starburst galaxy Messier 82 and trace its evolutionary history. This Webb and Hubble composite image includes 16.5 million stars (blue-white), dust grains (red-orange), and ionized hydrogen gas (yellow).

A side-by-side comparison of a portion of starburst galaxy Messier 82 (M82) as seen by NASAu2019s Hubble (left) and James Webb (right) space telescopes. The left image is labeled u201cHubbleu201d and the right image is labeled u201cWebb.u201d Hubbleu2019s visible-light view at left shows bright, bluish light radiating from the center and a thick lane of dust, black in the center and red around the edges, diagonally stretching across the scene. Thinner strands and clumps of reddish dust cover the majority of the view. Webbu2019s infrared-light view at right shows a dense area of stars, depicted as luminous blue-white grains, against the black background of space. Toward the right side is clumpy red material, which is most visible toward the top right corner.

M82 Cigar Galaxy (Hubble/Webb Side-by-Side)

Side-by-side comparison of a portion of starburst galaxy Messier 82 (M82) as seen by NASA’s Hubble (left) and James Webb (right) space telescopes. Hubble detailed M82’s gas and dust structure, while Webb pierced through the dust and resolved millions of stars in infrared light.

Annotated image of starburst galaxy Messier 82 captured by Webb's NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) instrument, with compass arrows, a scale bar, and color key for reference. Title text at top left reads u201cJames Webb Space Telescope, The Cigar Galaxy, M82.u201d Hourglass-shaped red-orange plumes of material are shooting outward from above and below a bright blue-white, disk-shaped center. Messier 82 is set against the black background of space, which has many distant galaxies that appear as small white and orange spirals, ovals, and points of light. Toward the right of Messier 82 is a blue-white star with eight-pointed diffraction spikes that are characteristic of Webb. Below the image is a color key showing which of Webbu2019s NIRCam and Hubbleu2019s ACS/WFC filters were used to create the image and which visible-light color is assigned to each filter. From left to right, NIRCam filters are: F115W is blue; F200W is light blue; F335M is orange, and F444W is red. ACS/WFC filter F658N is yellow.

M82 Cigar Galaxy (Compass Image)

Annotated image of the starburst galaxy Messier 82 captured by Webb's NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) instrument, with compass arrows, a scale bar, and color key for reference.

Edge-on spiral starburst galaxy Messier 82 as imaged by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. Hourglass-shaped red-orange plumes of material are shooting outward from above and below a bright blue-white, disk-shaped center. Messier 82 is set against the black background of space, which has many distant galaxies that appear as small white and orange ovals and points of light. Toward the right of Messier 82 is a white star with four-pointed diffraction spikes that are characteristic of Hubble. Text in the bottom left corner reads u201cHubble.u201d

M82 Cigar Galaxy (Webb + Hubble Fade)

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s near-infrared observation of M82 is the most recent addition to overall data on this starburst galaxy. The Hubble Space Telescope is one observatory that has previously looked at M82, detailing the gas and dust structure seen in visible light.

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Details

Last Updated
Jun 23, 2026
Location
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Contact
Media

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

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