Stunning insights into star-forming galaxy GN20 revealed by JWST.
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has been used to observe GN20, a luminous dusty star-forming galaxy. The observations reveal a clumpy stellar structure with a diameter of approximately 45,600 light years and kinematics consistent with that of a massive rotating disk. GN20 has a stellar structure characterized by a luminous unresolved nucleus and a diffuse extended envelope, forming new stars at a constant, high rate of about 500 solar masses per year. The nucleus is less than 2,600 light years in size, carries 9% of the total flux and coincides with the compact, cold dust nuclear emission.