It’s been conducting science operations for less than a month, but NASA’s James Webb once again impresses with his view of the universe.
The Super Space Telescope has now peeked into the chaos of the Cartwheel Galaxy, revealing new details about star formation and the galaxy’s central black hole.
Its strong infrared view produced a detailed image of the Cartwheel and two smaller companion galaxies against a backdrop of many other galaxies.
Located about 500 million light-years away in the Sculptor constellation, the Cartwheel Galaxy is a rare sight.
Its chariot wheel-like appearance is the result of an intense event – a high-speed collision between a large spiral galaxy and a smaller galaxy not visible in this image.
Other telescopes, including the Hubble Space Telescope, have previously studied the wagon wheel.
But the dramatic galaxy has been shrouded in mystery – perhaps literally given the amount of dust obscuring the view.
Fireworks: The James Webb Space Telescope once again impresses with its view of the universe. It has peered into the chaos of the Cartwheel Galaxy (pictured), revealing new details about star formation and the galaxy’s central black hole
This image from Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) shows a cluster of galaxies, including a large distorted annular galaxy known as Cartwheel
INSTRUMENTS ON THE JAMES WEBB TELESCOPE
NIRCam (Near InfraRed Camera) is an infrared imaging device from the edge of the visible to the near infrared
NIRSpec (Near InfraRed Spectrograph) will also perform spectroscopy over the same wavelength range.
MIRI (Mid-InfraRed Instrument) will measure the mid to long infrared wavelength range from 5 to 27 microns.
FGS/NIRISS (Fine Guidance Sensor and Near Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph) is used to stabilize the observatory’s line of sight during scientific observations.
Webb’s ability to detect infrared light now unveils new insights into the nature of the wagon wheel.
The near-infrared camera (NIRCam), Webb’s primary imager, looks into the near-infrared region from 0.6 to 5 microns and sees critical wavelengths of light that can reveal even more stars than can be observed in visible light.
This is because young stars, many of which are forming in the outer ring, are less obscured by dust when observed in infrared light. In this image, NIRCam data is colored blue, orange, and yellow.
The galaxy shows many individual blue dots that are individual stars or clusters of star formation.
NIRCam also shows the difference between the smooth distribution or shape of the older stellar populations and the dense dust in the core compared to the clumpy shapes associated with the younger stellar populations outside it.
The image from the $10 billion (£7.4 billion) observatory also offers a new perspective on how the Cartwheel Galaxy has changed over billions of years.
Galactic-scale collisions cause a cascade of various smaller events between the galaxies involved; the wagon wheel is no exception.
The collision primarily affected the shape and structure of the galaxy.
The Cartwheel Galaxy has two rings – a bright inner ring and a surrounding colorful ring. These rings spread outward from the center of the collision, like ripples in a pond after a stone has been thrown into it.
Because of these distinctive features, astronomers call it a “ring galaxy,” a structure less common than spiral galaxies like our Milky Way.
The bright core contains an enormous amount of hot dust, with the brightest areas home to gigantic young star clusters.
In contrast, the outer ring, which has been expanding for about 440 million years, is dominated by star formation and supernovae. As this ring expands, it plows into the surrounding gas and triggers star formation.
The $10 billion (£7.4 billion) observatory (pictured) offered a new look at how the Cartwheel Galaxy has changed over billions of years
Webb’s infrared abilities make it possible to see back in time to the Big Bang, which took place 13.8 billion years ago. Light waves travel extremely fast, about 186,000 miles (300,000 km) per second, every second. The further away an object is, the further back in time we look. This is due to the time it takes for the light to travel from the object to us
However, learning finer details about the dust inhabiting the galaxy requires Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI).
MIRI data is colored red in this composite image and shows regions within the Cartwheel Galaxy rich in hydrocarbons and other chemical compounds, as well as silicate dust, like much of Earth’s dust.
These regions form a series of spiraling spokes that essentially form the skeleton of the galaxy.
The spokes are evident in previous Hubble observations released in 2018, but they stand out much more in this Webb image.
While Webb gives us a snapshot of the cartwheel’s current state, it also gives a glimpse of what has happened to this galaxy in the past and how it will evolve in the future.
Last month, the telescope’s dazzling, unprecedented images of a “stellar nursery,” a dying, dust-shrouded star, and a “cosmic dance” between a cluster of galaxies were revealed to the world for the first time.
It put an end to months of waiting and feverish anticipation as people around the world were treated to the first batch of a treasure trove of images that will culminate in the universe’s earliest glimpse of dawn.
Thanks to Webb’s infrared capabilities, it can look back in time to just 100 to 200 million years after the Big Bang and capture images of the very first stars that shone in the universe more than 13.5 billion years ago.
His first images of nebulae, an exoplanet, and galaxy clusters sparked great celebrations in the scientific world on a “great day for mankind.”
Researchers will soon begin to learn more about the mass, age, history and composition of galaxies as Webb attempts to study the earliest galaxies in the universe.
The James Webb Telescope: NASA’s $10 billion telescope was designed to discover light from the earliest stars and galaxies
The James Webb Telescope has been described as a “time machine” that could help unlock the mysteries of our universe.
The telescope will be used to look back to the first galaxies born in the early Universe more than 13.5 billion years ago and to observe the sources of stars, exoplanets and even the moons and planets of our solar system.
The giant telescope, which has already cost more than $7 billion (£5 billion), is believed to be the successor to the Hubble orbiting space telescope
The James Webb Telescope and most of its instruments have an operating temperature of about 40 Kelvin – about minus 387 Fahrenheit (minus 233 degrees Celsius).
It is the largest and most powerful orbital space telescope in the world, able to look back 100 to 200 million years after the Big Bang.
The orbiting infrared observatory is said to be about 100 times more powerful than its predecessor, the Hubble Space Telescope.
NASA considers James Webb to be Hubble’s successor rather than a replacement as the two will be working together for a while.
The Hubble Telescope was launched on April 24, 1990 aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
It orbits the Earth at a speed of about 17,000 mph (27,300 km/h) in low Earth orbit at about 340 miles altitude.