NASA's Webb Telescope Sees Rare Galaxy Hidden From Hubble By Space Dust

by Aaron Leong — Tuesday, July 07, 2026, 11:31 AM EDT

To celebrate its fourth anniversary, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has pierced through the thick blankets of cosmic dust that once obscured the chaotic inner workings of Centaurus A, an active galaxy located 11 million light-years away.

Even though its close proximity has made it a prime target for astronomers, Centaurus A’s true nature has remained shrouded in mystery. Visible light observations from the Hubble Space Telescope were not possible due to dense lanes of dark dust spanning the galaxy's center. Later attempts by the retired Spitzer Space Telescope mapped the larger infrared structures but lacked the power to resolve individual features.

cent a context — *Centaurus A context image (Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, ESO)*

Leave it to the busy-bee Webb to break the stalemate, then. By utilizing its Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) and Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), the telescope managed to reveal a vibrant, hyper-detailed landscape of stars and gas. What you see in the heart of Centaurus A is violent scars of a galactic collision that occurred two billion years ago.

Astronomers found glowing dust structures warped into a bizarre parallelogram shape, alongside an S-shaped feature near the core. These glowing red structures are actually massive stellar nurseries and aging stars. Because Webb possesses the resolution to see this central region pretty much on a per star basis, astronomers can begin mapping the millions of stars and piece together a precise timeline of the galaxy's evolution, pinpointing exactly when older generations died out and when the ancient collision sparked a sudden, frantic burst of new star birth.

cent a crop nircam — *Combined view of Centaurus A from Webb's NIRCam and MIRI. (Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI)*

Let's also not forget about the supermassive black hole that sits at the center of Centaurus A. Webb’s instruments have allowed scientists to measure the actual motion of gas swirling around it, capturing fast-moving ionized gas blasting outward, driven by the black hole's appetite, which is also clashing with a warped, rotating disk of warm molecular hydrogen nearby. The data reveals a complex, dual relationship: apparently, the black hole is actively triggering star formation by compressing surrounding gas, while simultaneously choking it off by violently blowing vital star-making material away.

Perhaps just as impressive as this new imagery of Centaurus A is that the vast number of new discoveries and data uncovered by the JWST over its less than five-year mission span can't be denied. Hubble was great, but Webb has carried the torch rather well!