NASA and its James Webb Space Telescope partners have shared more impressive images from the observatory. This time, they provided a new look at the Cartwheel galaxy that Hubble and other telescopes have observed before. NASA said JWST was able to reveal new details about both star formation and the black hole at the center of the galaxy, which is about 500 million light-years from Earth.
Using infrared light detection, JWST was able to peer through the dust that hid the Pinwheel Galaxy from view when other telescopes were observing it. The image above is a composite of JWST’s Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) and the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI). The JWST website has higher resolution versions.
Data from NIRCam, which is JWST’s primary imager, are colored blue, orange and yellow, while MIRI data are in red. NASA says the blue dots that appear in the red dust vortices are individual stars or pockets of star formation. “NIRCam also reveals the difference between the smooth distribution, or shape, of the older stellar populations and dense dust in the core compared to the clumpy shapes associated with the younger stellar populations outside,” the agency notes.
Meanwhile, MIRI was able to reveal more details about the galaxy’s dust. It found regions that are rich in hydrocarbons and other chemical compounds, along with silicate dust that is similar to much of the dust present on Earth. These regions form several spiral spokes, which led to the name of the galaxy the Cartwheel. Hubble was able to image the spokes before, but they are much clearer in JWST observations. NASA also provided a MIRI-only image of the galaxy:
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI and the Webb ERO Production Team
The Wheel Galaxy formed after a collision between a large spiral galaxy and a smaller one. It has two rings, a bright inner ring and a colored outer ring. The outer ring has been expanding from the collision center for about 440 million years.
The inner ring contains “a huge amount of hot dust,” NASA said. The brightest regions host giant young star clusters. Meanwhile, the outer ring involves star formation and supernovae. As it expands and hits the surrounding gas, a star forms.
NASA, the European Space Agency, the Canadian Space Agency and the Space Telescope Science Institute last month unveiled the first stunning full-color images from JWST. These include one showing the “Space Rocks” of the Carina Nebula and a peek at stars in their early stages of formation. The telescope also saw Earendel, the most distant star we know of in the universe. While it’s still very early days for JWST’s science operations, it’s already helping scientists develop a deeper understanding of the cosmos — as well as providing some incredible images for the rest of us to admire.
We are excited to share the first JWST image of Earendel, the most distant star known in our universe, objectified and magnified by a massive galaxy cluster. It was observed on Saturday by the JWST 2282 program. pic.twitter.com/YoZZKRsdzf
— Cosmic Spring JWST (@CosmicSprngJWST) August 2, 2022
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