NASA releases a cosmic 'feast for the eyes' snapped by the Webb telescope

The European Space Agency has released a new cosmic feast for the eyes of a distant galaxy snapped by the incredible James Webb Space Telescope.

NASA releases a cosmic 'feast for the eyes' snapped by the Webb telescope
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Tech and Science Editor
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NASA and the European Space Agency's (ESA) James Webb Space Telescope have released a new gorgeous image of a distant galaxy.

NASA releases a cosmic 'feast for the eyes' snapped by the Webb telescope 6354
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The Webb telescope has pointed its powerful instruments at the grand spiral galaxy called M51, or officially called NGC 5194, which is located 27 million light years away from Earth within the constellation Canes Venatici. M51 is known for its disrupted spiral arms, which can be partly attributed to its relationship with its close neighbour, a dwarf galaxy known as NGC 5195.

The gravity of this dwarf planet is believed to have influenced the size and prominence of M51's spiral arms. So, what does the image actually show? Red regions in the image represent reprocessed light from complex molecules that are forming on dust grains. Orange and yellow regions represent ionised gas that was recently formed by star clusters. For more information on this image, check out this link here.

M51 (NIRCam image)
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M51 (NIRCam image)

M51 (M51 (MIRI image)
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M51 (M51 (MIRI image)