New General Catalogue (NGC) 2283 resides roughly 45 million light-years away in the constellation Canis Major. Classified as a barred spiral galaxy, NGC 2283’s central bar of stars is encircled by loosely wound spiral arms.
This image from the James Webb Space Telescope shows NGC 2283 through the lens of Webb’s Near-InfraRed Camera (NIRCam) and Mid-InfraRed Instrument. Webb captured NGC 2283 for just 10 minutes to collect the data for this image, which is constructed from four snapshots taken with different near-infrared filters. The filters reveal the emission from NGC 2283’s sparkling stellar population, as well as light from hydrogen clouds that have been heated by young stars. Sooty molecules called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons also emit light in the wavelength range surveyed by NIRCam. The large, bright stars with prominent diffraction spikes are inhabitants of our own Milky Way galaxy and lie between us and NGC 2283.
The images were collected as part of Webb observation program 3707, which explores the connections among stars, gas and dust in nearby star-forming galaxies. NGC 2283 is one of 55 galaxies in the local universe examined by Webb. All the galaxies surveyed are massive star-forming galaxies close enough for individual star clusters and gas clouds to be visible.
The star clusters and gas clouds are on full display in NGC 2283, outlining the galaxy’s graceful spiral arms. The dense knots of gas illuminated by young stars are evidence of active stellar formation that turns cold hydrogen gas into blazing stars.