"Stunning Image of Whirlpool Galaxy Captured by NASA's James Webb Telescope"

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has captured a brilliant new infrared image of the Whirlpool Galaxy, also known as M51 or NGC 5194. The image reveals warm dust concentrated along the galaxy's spiral arms, bright areas where stars are forming, regions of ionized gas created by recently formed star clusters, and cavernous black "bubbles" through which stars behind the galaxy can be seen. The telescope is observing the galaxy as part of a series of observations called FEAST, which aims to shed light on the interplay between stellar feedback and star formation in environments outside of our own galaxy.