NASA and the European Space Agency said Tuesday that the James Webb Space Telescope has looked through time and vast amounts of dust to capture a new image of the Cartwheel Galaxy, revealing a spinning ring of color in unprecedented clarity. Located about 500 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Sculptor, the cartwheel gained its shape during a spectacular face-to-face collision between two galaxies.
The impact sent two rings protruding from the center of the galaxy, “like ripples after throwing a stone in a pond”. NASA And this esa said in a joint statement.
A smaller white ring resides closer to the center of the galaxy, while the outer ring, with its colored specks, has been expanding in the universe for about 440 million years, the statement said.
As the outer ring expands, it turns into gas, forming new stars.
Hubble telescope previously captured images of the rare Ring Galaxy, believed to be a spiral galaxy like our own Galaxy Before it collided with a small intruder galaxy.
But the Webb telescope, which launched in December 2021 and revealed its first images to global fanfare last month, has a far greater reach.
Webb’s ability to detect infrared light allowed it to see through “tremendous amounts of hot dust” obscuring the view of the Cartwheel Galaxy, NASA and ESA.
He said this revealed new details about star formation in the Milky Way as well as the behavior of the supermassive black hole at its heart.
It was also able to detect areas rich in hydrocarbons and other chemicals, as well as dust similar to the dust on Earth.
Behind the cartwheel, two smaller galaxies shine brightly, while more galaxies can be seen behind them.
The observations suggest that the Cartwheel Galaxy is still in a “very fleeting phase”, the space agencies said.
“While Webb gives us a snapshot of the current state of the cartwheel, it also provides insight into what happened to this galaxy in the past and how it will evolve in the future.”