The James Webb Space Telescope, orbiting a million miles away, allows scientists to study our universe in previously impossible ways — and to generate stunning images while they’re at it.

The telescope itself is operated out of a plain-looking concrete office building on the Johns Hopkins University Homewood campus in Baltimore.

The folks at the Space Telescope Science Institute arguably know Webb best — so we asked them for their favorite JWST images or discoveries from the last year. Some answers have been edited for clarity and brevity.

Operations Controller Irma Quispe-Neira, center, looks at an array of monitors while working to operate the James Webb Space Telescope at the Space Telescope Science Institute on the Johns Hopkins University Homewood campus on Wednesday, May 15, 2024 in Baltimore, MD.
The people who most regularly communicate with the James Webb Space Telescope — which orbits a million miles away from Earth — work out of an office building at Johns Hopkins University’s Homewood Campus. (Wesley Lapointe for The Baltimore Banner/=)

Webb Deputy News Chief Hannah Braun: Serpens Nebula

Why it’s her favorite: The Serpens Nebula is just incredibly striking and has all the characteristics of what people have come to recognize as a classic Webb image — bright stars with diffraction spikes, protostellar outflows from forming stars and beautiful clouds of gas and dust.

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However, what I love so much here is the story behind it. The image actually really isn’t the main goal of the science program — the team is mainly interested in learning the chemical makeup of the cloud, and needed the image to determine exactly where to target to collect spectroscopic data. Luckily, that image just happened to be primed for a gorgeous shot! (Editor’s note: The Serpens Nebula is featured in the image at the top of this story.)

Mission Head Tom Brown: Sombrero Galaxy

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope recently imaged the Sombrero Galaxy with its MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument), resolving the clumpy nature of the dust along the galaxy’s outer ring. The mid-infrared light highlights the gas and dust that are part of star formation taking place within the Sombrero Galaxy’s outer disk. The rings of the Sombrero Galaxy produce less than one solar mass of stars per year, in comparison to the Milky Way’s roughly two solar masses a year. It’s not a particular hotbed of star formation. The Sombrero Galaxy is around 30 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Virgo.
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope recently imaged the Sombrero Galaxy using infrared technology. The galaxy is around 30 million light-years from Earth. (NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI)

Why it’s his favorite: I have been working on the Hubble and Webb telescopes in various roles ever since I finished graduate school. There are a number of beautiful images demonstrating how Hubble and Webb give complementary views of our universe, but the new Webb perspective of this iconic Hubble image is particularly striking, and it aligns with my own research interests.

Project Scientist Macarena Garcia Marin: Beta Pictoris

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has imaged star system Beta Pictoris. Webb’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) enabled a team of astronomers to investigate the composition of Beta Pic’s main and secondary debris disks—the latter feature previously detected by the Hubble Space Telescope. Unexpectedly, Webb’s infrared capabilities detected a new feature of the Beta Pic system: a curvy branch of dust that resembles the shape of a cat’s tail. This tail, only noticeable in the MIRI data, extends from the southwest portion of the secondary debris disk and is estimated to span 10 billion miles.
Webb’s infrared capabilities detected a new feature of this star system: a curvy branch of dust that resembles the shape of a cat’s tail. It is estimated to span 10 billion miles. (NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Christopher Stark (NASA-GSFC), Kellen Lawson (NASA-GSFC), Jens Kammerer (ESO), Marshall Perrin (STScI))

Why it’s her favorite: With Webb, I’m always keen to see the unexpected and the surprises the universe has to offer. This image showcases the telescope’s unparalleled capabilities, which allow astronomers to observe well-studied objects, such as this nearby young planetary system, and unveil never-before-seen features that deepen our understanding of their nature.

Project Scientist, science communications, Quyen Hart: Penguin and the Egg

This “penguin party” is loud! The distorted spiral galaxy at center, the Penguin, and the compact elliptical galaxy at left, the Egg, are locked in an active embrace. A new near- and mid-infrared image from the James Webb Space Telescope, taken to mark its second year of science, shows that their interaction is marked by a faint upside-down U-shaped blue glow. The pair, known jointly as Arp 142, made their first pass between 25 and 75 million years ago — causing “fireworks,” or new star formation, in the Penguin. In the most extreme cases, mergers can cause galaxies to form thousands of new stars per year, for a few million years. For the Penguin, research has shown that about 100 to 200 stars have formed per year. By comparison, our Milky Way galaxy (which is not interacting with a galaxy of the same size) forms roughly six to seven new stars per year.
The distorted spiral galaxy at center, the Penguin, and the compact elliptical galaxy at left, the Egg, are locked in an active embrace. (NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI)

Why it’s her favorite: The Penguin and the Egg is one of my favorite images from 2024 because of the intricate, large-scale details that are sculpted by gravity. Also, this image was selected to mark the anniversary of the start of science operations for the Webb Space Telescope. The celebration always reminds us how many groundbreaking astronomy discoveries have been made with this amazing infrared telescope.

Principal Science Visuals Developer Joseph DePasquale: Crab Nebula

This image by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) and MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) shows different structural details of the Crab Nebula. The supernova remnant is comprised of several different components, including doubly ionized sulfur (represented in green), warm dust (magenta), and synchrotron emission (blue). Yellow-white mottled filaments within the Crab’s interior represent areas where dust and doubly ionized sulfur coincide. The observations were taken as part of General Observer program 1714.
This image by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam and MIRI shows different structural details of the Crab Nebula. (NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Tea Temim (Princeton University)/NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Tea Temim Princeton University)

Why it’s his favorite: I’ve always found the Crab Nebula a fascinating and enigmatic object going back to my earlier work at other observatories. This image presented a new and interesting challenge. I worked closely with the science team to refine the images we received from Webb to focus on the light emitted by sulfur and warm dust. We then used color to showcase these results, highlighting the interactions between the high energy, central pulsar and its impact on the surrounding environment.

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Science Visuals Developer Alyssa Pagan: NGC 602

his image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) of star-forming region NGC 604 shows how stellar winds from bright, hot young stars carve out cavities in surrounding gas and dust. The bright orange streaks in this image signify the presence of carbon-based molecules known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs. As you travel further from the immediate cavities of dust where the star is forming, the deeper red signifies molecular hydrogen. This cooler gas is a prime environment for star formation. Hydrogen ionized by ultraviolet radiation appears as a white and blue ghostly glow.
This image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam of star-forming region NGC 604 shows how stellar winds from bright, hot young stars carve out cavities in surrounding gas and dust. (NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI)

Why it’s her favorite: Star-forming regions are fascinating and exotic in the infrared. NGC 604, in particular, constitutes a beautiful array of structures such as large cavities created by bright, newly-formed stars, encapsulated by tendrils of dust. The image is not only striking, but gives us insight into how young stars form in and shape the surrounding nebula.

New Chief Christine Pulliam: Question Mark Galaxy

he galaxy cluster MACS-J0417.5-1154 is so massive it is warping the fabric of space-time and distorting the appearance of galaxies behind it, an effect known as gravitational lensing. This natural phenomenon magnifies distant galaxies and can also make them appear in an image multiple times, as NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope saw here. Two distant, interacting galaxies — a face-on spiral and a dusty red galaxy seen from the side — appear multiple times, tracing a familiar shape across the sky. Active star formation, and the face-on galaxy’s remarkably intact spiral shape, indicate that these galaxies’ interaction is just beginning.
The galaxy cluster MACS-J0417.5-1154 is so massive it is warping the fabric of space-time and distorting the appearance of galaxies behind it, an effect known as gravitational lensing. This natural phenomenon magnifies distant galaxies and can also make them appear in an image multiple times. (NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Vicente Estrada-Carpenter (Saint Mary's University))

Why it’s her favorite: One of the most mind-bending things about the universe is how space itself can warp and distort the light of objects billions of light-years away. Here, a single galaxy had its light split so that it shows up multiple times, and distorted to form the shape of a giant question mark in space. I view it as representing one of the best things about science — every answer leads to intriguing new questions.

Banner Reporter and Webb Enthusiast Cody Boteler: ‘Blood-Soaked’ Eyes

The gruesome palette of these galaxies is owed to a mix of mid-infrared light from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, and visible and ultraviolet light from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. The pair grazed one another millions of years ago. The smaller spiral on the left, cataloged as IC 2163, passed behind NGC 2207, the larger spiral galaxy at right. Both have increased star formation rates. Combined, they are estimated to form the equivalent of two dozen new stars that are the size of the Sun annually. Our Milky Way galaxy forms the equivalent of two or three new Sun-like stars per year.
The palette of these galaxies is owed to a mix of mid-infrared light from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, and visible and ultraviolet light from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. (NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI)

Why it’s my favorite: I love almost every image from Webb — it’s a highlight of my week any time a press release with new images from the Space Telescope Science Institute hits my inbox. This image shows two galaxies passing near each other without actually colliding.

Plus — it’s kinda creepy looking, and they released the images on Halloween. Any time science communications lean into the fun, playful side of stuff like this, I’m even more on board.