Webb Resolves Individual Stars in Dust-Shrouded Galaxy, Enabling Star-by-Star Reconstruction of Ancient Merger

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has resolved individual stars within Centaurus A, an active galaxy 11 million light-years away, marking the first time dust-obscured stellar populations can be mapped directly. The galaxy's warped structure resulted from a merger 2 billion years ago. Webb's infrared instruments penetrate dust that blocked Hubble's visible-light observations and exceed Spitzer's resolution, allowing astronomers to build a timeline of star formation triggered by the collision and correlate stellar populations with the central black hole's accretion history.