What James Webb found inside the Cigar Galaxy is changing astronomers' understanding of it
The James Webb Space Telescope has peered through dense clouds of dust inside Messier 82, the Cigar Galaxy, revealing millions of stars that remained hidden from previous observations. Using its Near-Infrared Camera, Webb resolved individual stars, stellar clusters, and intricate structures within one of the nearest starburst galaxies, where new stars are forming at an extraordinary rate. These observations are giving astronomers an unprecedented view of the galaxy's hidden stellar population and the processes driving its intense star formation, demonstrating how Webb's infrared capabilities are uncovering parts of the Universe that earlier telescopes could not observe.
