A Clash of Titans

Day 12 of the 2024 Space Telescope Advent Calendar: a clash of titans. This mid-infrared image of colliding galaxies IC 2163 and NGC 2207 from the James Webb Space Telescope shows two large, luminous “eyes” at the galaxies’ cores, some 80 million light-years away. Webb’s mid-infrared image excels at showing where the cold dust glows throughout these galaxies—and helps pinpoint where stars and star clusters are buried within the dust. Find these regions by looking for the pink dots along the spiral arms. Many of these areas are home to actively forming stars that are still encased in the gas and dust that feeds their growth.

See the full advent calendar here, where a new image will be revealed each day until December 25.