Launch of the new James Webb telescope for galaxy NGC 5068

• The James Webb Space Telescope has captured a new image of a galaxy 17 million light-years away.
• Thousands and thousands of stars can be seen, many of them concentrated in the galactic core.
• JWST peers into the hearts of many galaxies to help scientists better understand star formation.

Thanks to the power of the James Webb Space Telescope, we can peer into the fuzzy hearts of galaxies. And that’s exactly what you’re seeing here, in this New image From the web of galaxy NGC 5068.

NGC 5068 is located about 17 million light-years from Earth. For perspective, he named the Milky Way’s neighborhood of galaxies local group, 5 million light-years away. So, this galaxy is farther away than we might consider close.

Every single point of white light you can see is a star, per Mashable. NASA said there are thousands upon thousands of stars in this image. And many of them hang out in the center of the galaxy, which you can see in the upper left as a bright band of white light.

This region appears very bright because this is where most of the stars are concentrated. This is where all the work is.

James Webb looks into the hearts of many galaxies to reveal their secrets

According to Harvard Smithsonian. And it is this star formation that astronomers are most interested in studying with the help of JWST.

In fact, NGC 5068 is just one of a series of other galaxies that Webb is observing for a project that helps us better understand star formation. Webb also captured images of spiral galaxy IC 5332:

And the heart of galaxy M74, dubbed the “ghost galaxy”:

The James Webb Space Telescope has the advantage of seeing in infrared light.

Infrared wavelengths are too long for the human eye to detect. But they are especially important for study in space because they allow the JWST to identify obstructed visible light that may impede our ability to see into the hearts of galaxies and their bustling star-forming environments.

“By observing star formation in nearby galaxies, astronomers hope to start a major scientific advance with some of the first data available from Webb,” NASA said.

Watch a video of NGC 5068 below: