The James Webb Space Telescope has released a new NIRCam image of the Cigar Galaxy (M82), an edge-on starburst galaxy about 12 million light-years away. JWST reveals a blue-white, star-packed core, red-orange dust plumes, and fine structures such as cavities and ridges visible through the dust. M82 hosts more than 100 super star clusters and is forming stars at roughly 10× the Milky Way's rate, likely fueled by gas drawn in during a close encounter with M81. Broad plumes of PAH molecules, about 160 light-years across, are being driven out by powerful winds from the galaxy's intense star-forming regions.
Webb Captures Fiery Starburst in the Cigar Galaxy (M82) — Stunning NIRCam Image
The James Webb Space Telescope has released a new NIRCam image of the Cigar Galaxy (M82), an edge-on starburst galaxy about 12 million light-years away. JWST reveals a blue-white, star-packed core, red-orange dust plumes, and fine structures such as cavities and ridges visible through the dust. M82 hosts more than 100 super star clusters and is forming stars at roughly 10× the Milky Way's rate, likely fueled by gas drawn in during a close encounter with M81. Broad plumes of PAH molecules, about 160 light-years across, are being driven out by powerful winds from the galaxy's intense star-forming regions.
17:45, 02.11.2025Science
Webb Captures Fiery Starburst at the Heart of the Cigar Galaxy
Quick facts
What it is: M82, an edge-on spiral starburst galaxy
Where it is: About 12 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major
When it was shared: Oct. 23, 2025
If you own a small backyard telescope, there's a good chance you've seen the Cigar Galaxy (M82). Located near Bode's Galaxy (M81), M82 is roughly four times smaller than the Milky Way yet appears brighter and is forming stars at an extraordinary rate — roughly ten times the Milky Way's star-formation rate — which is why astronomers call it a starburst galaxy.
This new image from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) — captured with its Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) — reveals a concentrated, blue-white core packed with billions of stars surrounded by red-orange filaments of dust being expelled above and below the galactic plane. Although we view M82 edge-on, JWST's infrared vision pierces the dusty lanes to reveal fine structures such as cavities, ridges and filaments in the interstellar gas.
The galaxy's center is exceptionally active: it hosts more than 100 super star clusters, several still forming inside dense molecular clouds. Each super cluster can contain hundreds of thousands of stars, producing intense radiation and powerful stellar winds that reshape the surrounding gas and dust.
A close gravitational encounter with its neighbor M81 is the likely trigger for M82's frenzy of star formation. Tidal forces from M81 probably funneled streams of gas into M82's center, supplying fresh material that fueled the starburst despite M82's relatively modest size.
The JWST image also highlights broad plumes of emission from organic molecules. These features, roughly 160 light-years across, are polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) that glow when illuminated and are being carried away from the galactic disk by powerful outflowing winds driven by the many massive young clusters.
For observers in the Northern Hemisphere, M81 and M82 form a striking pair in the autumn and winter sky. Both galaxies are visible as small, diffuse patches of light northwest of Dubhe — the bright star at the lip of the Big Dipper's bowl — and they often appear together within the same field of view through a small backyard scope.
Why this matters: JWST's detailed infrared view gives astronomers an unprecedented look at how intense star formation, dust, and gas flows interact, and how galactic encounters can dramatically alter a galaxy's evolution.
See more spectacular images in our Space Photo of the Week archives.