# @nasa on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DYC9YhOj3Rf
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/65138544-nasa-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/19754153d4.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-05-07T17:43:00.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** NASA (@NASA) — https://gondola.cc/NASA

## Caption

Don’t let anyone dull your shine 💫
 
The heart of galaxy M77 is shining so brightly in this Webb telescope image, it nearly outshines the galaxy itself. The intense glow is due to gas being pulled into a tight and rapid orbit around the central black hole. The motion of the gas heats it up, releasing tremendous amounts of radiation. 
 
The first image is Webb’s mid-infrared view with swirling filaments of dust shown in blue. The glowing orange bubbles along the arms are being carved out by newly-formed star clusters.
 
In the second image, the near-infrared reveals a bar spanning 6,000 light-years across the central region. This bar is enclosed by a bright ring, called a starburst ring, formed by the inner ends of the galaxy’s two spiral arms. Starburst regions in galaxies are zones of high star formation rates.
 
The third image is a composite image, combining both mid and near-infrared shots into one.
 
Those bright orange lines radiating out of the center of all images are diffraction spikes, an optical effect caused by the telescope itself. When observing a bright object such as a star, the light gets slightly bent (or diffracted) around some of the telescope’s structures. Due to Webb’s optics, its images have a six-plus-two-pointed pattern around bright objects. Hubble images have four-pointed patterns due to its structure.

Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, A. Leroy
 
#NASA #Webb #Galaxy

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## Tags

webb, nasa, galaxy

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