Images captured by the high-precision instruments on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have given astronomers a close-up view of the Cartwheel galaxy, a strange ring-shaped galaxy formed after a large spiral galaxy collided with a smaller neighboring galaxy.
The images were taken by the telescope’s Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) and the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) and are clear enough to show individual stars scattered across the galaxy’s spectacular shape.
The blue dots seen in the images are individual stars or star-forming regions, while the red dots indicate hydrocarbon-rich regions.
The Cartwheel Galaxy was previously imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope, but JWST’s ability to detect infrared light has now revealed new insights into its structure and life cycle.
The galaxy is located about 500 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Sculptor. Its wheel appearance is thought to be the result of a high-energy collision between a large spiral galaxy and a smaller galaxy not visible in this image.
The new image captured by JWST shows the Cartheel galaxy in unprecedented detail. © NASA, ESA, CSA, STcI
It consists of two clearly visible rings – a bright inner ring and a more colorful outer ring. Both rings expand outward from the collision site, similar to the ripples created by throwing a stone into a lake. At its center is a black hole.
The bright core is packed with furious clouds of hot dust and is dotted with young star clusters. The outer ring, which astronomers say has been expanding for about 440 million years, is triggering the formation of new stars as it collides with surrounding pockets of gas.
Researchers say that the Cartheel galaxy is currently in a state of great change and that further study of this mysterious cosmic object will provide insight into its formation, life cycle and future.
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