NASA has marked the fourth anniversary of the James Webb Space Telescope by releasing the most detailed images ever taken of Centaurus A, an active galaxy roughly 11 million light-years from Earth. The agency said the images reflect four years of "better-than-anticipated performance and successful science operations" for what it calls the most powerful space telescope in history, underlining Webb's continuing scientific value.

Centaurus A is of particular interest because it hosts a supermassive black hole at its centre that releases vast amounts of energy as it feeds, and it has an unusual structure resulting from a major collision with another galaxy around two billion years ago. Earlier telescopes were limited: Hubble's visible-light view was blocked by thick dust, while Spitzer captured large structures but not individual stars. Webb's Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) has now revealed fine detail in the galaxy's dust, with glowing dots marking dust-rich stars and stellar nurseries. NASA also released a combined MIRI and Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) view, allowing scientists to study the galaxy star by star and build a timeline of its evolution.