If you own a small backyard telescope, there’s a good chance you’ve seen the Cigar Galaxy (M82) with your own eyes. Not only is it relatively close to the Milky Way and one of the brightest galaxies in the night sky, but it’s visible beside Bode’s Galaxy (M81). A spiral galaxy about four times smaller than the Milky Way, M82 shines five times more brightly and forms stars at 10 times the rate, earning it the title of a starburst galaxy.

This image from the James Web Space Telescope (JWST) reveals a glowing core teeming with billions of stars. The shot is a follow-up to a close-up image published in 2024. Despite being a side-on view of M82, the photo shows its brilliant core exuding a blue-white glare, with red and orange dust clouds being pushed out above and below. The gas clouds contain cavities and ridges — details that are only possible to spot because of JWST’s Near-InfraRed Camera (NIRCam), which can see straight through them.

M82’s core is a busy place, containing more than 100 super star clusters, some still being born within dense gas clouds. Each super star cluster hosts hundreds of thousands of stars. The reason for M82’s burst of star formation is probably its neighbor, M81, whose gravity it has likely interacted with. As a result, gas from M81 has found its way into M82’s center, spurring an uptick in star formation despite the galaxy’s small size.