Ghostlike Dusty Galaxy Reappears in James Webb Space Telescope Image

December 4, 2023 • by Marc Airhart

Astronomers with the COSMOS-Web collaboration have identified the object AzTECC71 as a dusty star-forming galaxy.

A diffuse red patch emerges from the center of an inky black background

Color composite of galaxy AzTECC71 from multiple color filters in the NIRCam instrument on the James Webb Space Telescope. Credit: J. McKinney/M. Franco/C. Casey/University of Texas at Austin.


Four images of the same part of the sky in different frequencies of light. The image on the far right shows a dark patch that represents a galaxy. The image on the far left shows no sign of this galaxy.

The galaxy AzTECC71 is clearly visible in the reddest color filter of the NIRCam instrument on the James Webb Space Telescope (F444W, far right), but not at all in the bluest filters (F115W and 150W, left). Credit: J. McKinney/M. Franco/C. Casey/University of Texas at Austin.

Share