NASA's Webb Will Explore the Cores of Merging Galaxies | NASA

NASA's Webb Will Explore the Cores of Merging Galaxies | NASA

These merging galaxies, known as II Zw 096, are the site of a spectacular burst of star formation that is hinted at in the red speckles near the middle of the image. This dust-shrouded area conceals a brilliant burst of star formation that becomes more apparent at longer wavelengths of infrared light. The image above combines near-infrared, visible, and far-ultraviolet observations from the Hubble Space Telescope. Researchers using infrared data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope estimated the starburst, which lives in a small red region at the center of this image, is cranking out stars at the breakneck pace of around 100 solar masses per year. The upcoming James Webb Space Telescope will allow researchers to penetrate the dust and search for a buried, rapidly growing supermassive black hole.

Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/STScI/H. Inami (SSC/Caltech)