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NGC 7496 (MIRI Image)

A large galaxy takes up the entirety of the image. The image is mostly black, with a bright, glowing circular core at the center. Six reddish diffraction spikes extend from the core. The spiral arms of the galaxy outstretch to the upper left and the lower right. There is black space between the core and the main spiral arms of the galaxy. Those arms are wispy and highlight filaments of dust around cavernous black bubbles. That dust in the outer rings contains diffuse dots that are navy blue, pinkish, reddish, and white. Throughout, there is also a smattering of background galaxies seen as small red and greenish dots.

Scientists are getting their first look with NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s powerful resolution at how the formation of young stars influences the evolution of nearby galaxies. The spiral arms of NGC 7496, one of a total of 19 galaxies targeted for study by the Physics at High Angular resolution in Nearby Galaxies (PHANGS) collaboration, are filled with cavernous bubbles and shells overlapping one another in this image from Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI). These filaments and hollow cavities are evidence of young stars releasing energy and, in some cases, blowing out the gas and dust of the interstellar medium surrounding them.

Until Webb’s high resolution at infrared wavelengths came along, stars at the earliest point of the lifecycle in nearby galaxies like NGC 7496 remained obscured by gas and dust. Webb’s specific wavelength coverage allows for the detection of complex organic molecules called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which play a critical role in the formation of stars and planets. In Webb’s MIRI image, these are mostly found within the main dust lanes in the spiral arms. 

In their analysis of the new data from Webb, scientists were able to identify nearly 60 new, embedded cluster candidates in NGC 7496. These newly identified clusters could be among the youngest stars in the entire galaxy. 

At the center of NGC 7496, a barred spiral galaxy, is an active galactic nucleus (AGN). AGN is another way to refer to an active supermassive black hole that is emitting jets and winds. This glows quite brightly at the center of the Webb image. Additionally, Webb’s extreme sensitivity also picks up various background galaxies, which appear green or red in some instances.

NGC 7496 lies over 24 million light-years away from Earth in the constellation Grus.

MIRI was contributed by ESA and NASA, with the instrument designed and built by a consortium of nationally funded European Institutes (The MIRI European Consortium) and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in partnership with the University of Arizona.

About the Object

  • R.A. Position
    R.A. PositionRight ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.
    23:09:47.29
  • Dec. Position
    Dec. PositionDeclination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.
    -43:25:40.58
  • Constellation
    ConstellationOne of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears.
    Grus
  • 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.
    24 million 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: 2107 (J. Lee).

  • 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.
    6 July 2022
  • Filters
    FiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.
    F770W, F1000W, F1130, F2100W
  • Object Name
    Object NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
    NGC 7496
  • Object Description
    Object DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.
    Spiral galaxy
  • Release Date
    February 16, 2023
  • Science Release
    NASA’s Webb Reveals Intricate Networks of Gas and Dust in Nearby Galaxies
    Read the release
  • Credit
    NASA, ESA, CSA, Janice Lee (NSF's NOIRLab); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)

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A large galaxy takes up the entirety of the image. The image is mostly black, with a bright, glowing circular core at the center. Six reddish diffraction spikes extend from the core. The spiral arms of the galaxy outstretch to the upper left and the lower right. There is black space between the core and the main spiral arms of the galaxy. Those arms are wispy and highlight filaments of dust around cavernous black bubbles. That dust in the outer rings contains diffuse dots that are navy blue, pinkish, reddish, and white. Throughout, there is also a smattering of background galaxies seen as small red and greenish dots.
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: F770W, Green: F1000W+F1130W, Red: F2100W

Compass and Scale
Compass and ScaleAn astronomical image with a scale that shows how large an object is on the sky, a compass that shows how the object is oriented on the sky, and the filters with which the image was made.

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NGC 7496 (MIRI Compass Image)

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NGC 1365 (MIRI Compass 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

Science Credit

NASA, ESA, CSA, Janice Lee (NSF’s NOIRLab)

Image Processing Credit

Joseph DePasquale (STScI)

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