NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has provided a new infrared view of Messier 64 (M64), the spiral galaxy widely known as the Black Eye Galaxy. NASA featured the image on September 16, 2026, as its Astronomy Picture of the Day.

M64 is famous for the dark band of dust that partially obscures its bright central region. Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) can detect this dust because it absorbs energy from nearby young stars and re-emits it at infrared wavelengths.

The new observations are particularly valuable because M64 has an unusual internal structure. Gas in the galaxy’s outer regions rotates in the opposite direction to gas and stars closer to its centre. Scientists believe this counter-rotation may have resulted from an earlier merger with a smaller galaxy.

Where these opposing gas streams interact, the material can become compressed, creating conditions that encourage new stars to form. Webb’s infrared observations allow astronomers to examine these dusty, star-forming regions in greater detail than visible-light observations alone.

The observations could help researchers better understand how galaxies evolve after mergers and how those interactions influence the distribution of gas, dust and newborn stars.

M64 is located approximately 17 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Coma Berenices.

The latest Webb view demonstrates how observing the same galaxy at different wavelengths can reveal structures that remain hidden in ordinary visible-light images.