The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) captured this stunning image of a galaxy called the "Phantom Galaxy". This galaxy looks like a wormhole.
This image was recorded by Judy Schmidt based on JWST data collected nearly a million miles away from our planet using the mid-infrared instrument (MIRI).
"I've been doing this for 10 years now, and the (JWST) data is new, different, and exciting. Of course I'm going to make something with it," Schmidt said.
The image highlights the dust trails in the galaxy, better known as NGC 628 or Messier 74. Dubbed the "perfect spiral" by some astronomers because the galaxy is so symmetrical, the Ghost Galaxy is of scientific interest because it belongs to the intermediate mass category. Scientists believe there is a black hole embedded in its heart.
Galaxies have been imaged professionally many times before, including by space observatories such as the Hubble Space Telescope and the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). What sets Webb's image apart from previous attempts is the infrared range, the center of which highlights the cosmic dust, along with the unique 18-segment hexagonal mirror power and space location.
Webb eyed the M74 earlier this week. The data was also shared on Twitter by Gabriel Brammer, an astronomer at the Cosmic Dawn Center at the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Denmark.
The Ghost Galaxy, also known as Messier 74 or NGC 628, as seen by the Hubble Space Telescope. Photo: NASA, ESA, and Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration)
Images of selected raw JWSTs are publicly available on this site, hours or days after observation, and amateur imagers and scientists are free to use the data as long as they cite the source when publishing.
JWST was busy releasing its first operational images on July 12 of a space object, including nebulae and views of very young galaxies. Following later on July 14, photos of Jupiter's infrared view were released with the Moon and its ring of gas giants.
As for the Ghost Galaxy, Schmidt uses Photoshop and FITS Liberator for most of his work and says there are plenty of imaging tutorial videos on his YouTube channel to help take advantage of today's more sophisticated software.
You can see more spectacular images of JWST and other cosmic objects on Schmidt's Flickr page.