The James Webb Space Telescope peered through dust and gas to reveal star formation in a rare wheel-shaped galaxy that formed in a galactic collision long ago.
the galaxy called Cart-wheel Because of its striking resemblance to an ancient carriage wheel, it was previously studied by the hubble space telescopebut Webb’s infrared gaze has revealed a plethora of details never before seen in the galaxystructure of .
Infrared light, which is essentially heat, penetrates through the dust clouds, allowing the James Webb Space Telescope to peer into regions of space that are hidden from optical telescopes such as Hubble. In the new images, the Webb NIRCam instruments and MIRIrevealed individual stars within star-forming regions in the outer ring of the Cartwheel galaxy, as well as very young star clusters around the galaxy’s central supermassive black holewhich is also powder coated.
Gallery: First photos of the James Webb Space Telescope
The Cartwheel, located about 500 million Light years away from Earth in the Sculptor constellation in the southern sky, it is a rather rare type of galaxy that astronomers call a ring galaxy. Scientists believe that long ago, the cartwheel was common spiral galaxysimilar to ours Milky Way. Then, about 700 to 800 million light-years ago, it collided with a smaller galaxy.
The crash altered its shape and structure to what astronomers can see today, forming two ring-shaped structures, one surrounding the galactic center and one framing the entire galaxy. The two rings expand outward from the galaxy’s center like “ripples on a pond,” the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), which operates Webb and is based in Maryland, said in a statement. statement (opens in a new tab).
As the outer ring expands, it pushes out surrounding dust and gas from the galaxy and triggers star formation, according to STScI. Areas where new stars are being born appear as small blue dots in the image and are scattered throughout the galaxy, but especially concentrated in the outer ring.
Webb’s observations also reveal areas rich in hydrocarbons and silicate dust, which form the spokes connecting the inner and outer rings. Previous Hubble images could also make out the spokes, but Webb’s new observations make these features much clearer, STScI said.
The Cartwheel galaxy is still morphing as a result of the previous accident, and the new observations will help provide insights into its past and future evolution.
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