A portion of the dwarf galaxy Wolf–Lundmark–Melotte (WLM) captured by the Spitzer Space Telescope’s Infrared Array Camera (left) and the James Webb Space Telescope’s Near-Infrared Camera (right). The images demonstrate Webb’s remarkable ability to resolve faint stars outside the Milky Way. The Spitzer image shows 3.6-micron light in cyan and 4.5-micron in orange. (IRAC1 and IRAC2). The Webb image includes 0.9-micron light shown in blue, 1.5-micron in cyan, 2.5-micron in yellow, and 4.3-micron in red (filters F090W, F150W, F250M, and F430M).
Read the story, watch a zoom-in, or explore the Webb image on its own.
Credits
Science
NASA, ESA, CSA, IPAC, Kristen McQuinn (RU)
Image Processing
Zolt G. Levay (STScI), Alyssa Pagan (STScI)
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | Wolf–Lundmark–Melotte (WLM) |
| Object Description | Barred, irregular, dwarf galaxy |
| R.A. Position | 00:01:57.429 |
| Dec. Position | -15:28:52.49 |
| Constellation | Cetus |
| Distance | About 3 million light-years away |
| Dimensions | The field of each image is about 2 arcminutes across (1,700 light-years) |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | The Webb image was created from JWST data from proposal: (D. Weisz) |
| Instrument | Spitzer>IRAC Webb>NIRCam |
| Exposure Dates | Spitzer: 5 Feb 2010 Webb: 23-24 July 2022 |
| Filters | Spitzer: IRAC 3.6µm, IRAC 4.5µm Webb: F090W, F150W, F250M, F430M |
| About The Image | |
| Color Info | These images are a composite of separate exposures acquired by the Spitzer Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope using the IRAC and NIRCam instruments respectively. Several filters were used to sample different infrared 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: Spitzer> Cyan: IRAC 3.6um, Orange: IRAC 4.5um Webb> Blue: F090W, Cyan: F150W, Yellow: F250M, Red: F430M |
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | A name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object. |
| Object Description | The type of astronomical object. |
| R.A. Position | Right ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Dec. Position | Declination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Constellation | One of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears. |
| Distance | The 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. |
| Dimensions | The physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky. |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description |
|
| Instrument | The science instrument used to produce the data. |
| Exposure Dates | The date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time. |
| Filters | The camera filters that were used in the science observations. |
| About The Image | |
| Image Credit | The primary individuals and institutions responsible for the content. |
| Publication Date | The date and time the release content became public. |
| Color Info | A brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented. |
| Orientation | The rotation of the image on the sky with respect to the north pole of the celestial sphere. |
