David Thilker and the PHANGS Team Share Video Comparing Panchromatic Imaging of Nearby Disk Galaxies

David Thilker and the PHANGS Team Share Video Comparing Panchromatic Imaging of Nearby Disk Galaxies

Principal Research Scientist David Thilker and the team comprising the PHANGS (PHysics at High Angular resolution in Nearby GalaxieS) HST+JWST program at STScI have released a new video of 19 nearby disk galaxies that show stars, gas, and dust on small scales. The video contrasts the starkly different appearance of spiral galaxies in ultraviolet-to-visible light from HST and in near- and mid-infrared light from JWST.  The new data from JWST are revolutionizing our understanding of galaxies (in particular their dusty substructure and sites of star formation) but can only be fully interpreted with help from the aging Hubble.  This fact underscores the need for realization of a future large UV-visible-NIR telescope such as the Habitable Worlds Observatory concept now under study by NASA.