Face-to-face with PHANGS | Nature Astronomy

Access through your institution Buy or subscribe The multiwavelength views present different, but complementary, impressions of the galaxy. The JWST observations in the top left corner show

bright spiral arms composed of stars, gas and dust, whereas in the HST image, bottom right, the spiral arms are dark. That is because dust absorbs UV and visible light, re-emitting it at

infrared wavelengths. In the JWST image, the spiral arm material appears more defined, often clumped into short filaments, while in the HST image, the filaments are more hazy. The galaxy’s

central barred region appears blue and transparent in JWST observations and yellow and more opaque in HST observations. The emission originates from the same old stars however: it is

coloured blue in JWST observations because it is at the shorter-wavelength end (~300–350 nm) of the NIRCam detector range and red/green for HST since it is at the longer-wavelength end

(~530–800 nm) of the WFC3 instrument’s bandpass. Star formation in galaxies likely originates in their centres, so younger stars can be found towards the outer parts of these galaxies. In

the JWST image, the tiny blue points appearing through the red/yellow interstellar clouds are young, massive stars that have just blown away their natal cloaks. This is a preview of

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ACCESS OPTIONS: * Log in * Learn about institutional subscriptions * Read our FAQs * Contact customer support AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Nature Astronomy

https://www.nature.com/natastron/ Paul Woods Authors * Paul Woods View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar CORRESPONDING AUTHOR Correspondence to

Paul Woods. RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Woods, P. Face-to-face with PHANGS. _Nat Astron_ 8, 157 (2024).

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-024-02219-6 Download citation * Published: 21 February 2024 * Issue Date: February 2024 * DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-024-02219-6 SHARE THIS ARTICLE

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