James Webb Space Telescope Snaps Breathtaking Images Of ‘Cartwheel Galaxy’
In July, President Joe Biden unveiled the very first images snapped by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), among which was the sharpest infrared image of the universe that’s ever been captured.
Following that, more breathtaking images of our stars and galaxies emerged, with the internet sent abuzz at how much higher-definition, crisper, and more vibrant the pictures were as compared to ones previously shot by the Hubble Space Telescope.
Now, another stunning picture has come forth, with NASA revealing the JWST’s peek into the chaos of the Cartwheel Galaxy, showcasing new details about star formation and the galaxy’s central black hole that had remained unknown.
According to the agency, the Cartwheel Galaxy, located 500 million light-years away as part of the Sculptor constellation, is a sight that’s difficult to come by.
Resembling the wheel of an old-timey wagon—hence its moniker—the incredible phenomenon resulted from an intense high-speed collision between a large spiral galaxy and a smaller galaxy.
As such, if you look closely at the image, you’ll spot two rings: a bright inner ring and a larger, more colorful one surrounding it.
These two rings, which expand outwards from the center of impact, much like ripples in a pond when skipping stones, lend its name to the term “ring galaxy,” which astronomers believe are much less common that spiral galaxies, like our Milky Way.
In the past, other telescopes, including the Hubble, have tried exploring the Cartwheel, though a large amount of dust that surrounds it often obscures it from view. Thanks to the JWST’s ability to capture images using its Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), we can now peer into new unknowns of the galaxy.
Scientists posit the new images support the theory that the galaxy is in transition, and will continue to transform. Using the snapshot of the current state of the Cartwheel, more insights can be gleaned into its past before the collision, and how it may evolve going forward.
