Looking into the turbulence of a Cartwheel galaxy, NASA’s James Webb Telescope has discovered new information about star formation and the galaxy’s central black hole. Against a backdrop of many other galaxies, Webb’s powerful infrared sight captured a fine image of Cartwheel and two smaller companion galaxies. This image offers a new perspective on the galaxy’s evolution over billions of years, according to a NASA release. The European Space Agency (ESA) shared images of the Cartwheel Galaxy on its Twitter handle on Tuesday and said: “Telescopes have looked at the Cartwheel Galaxy before, but our view has been obscured by gas and dust. #Webb, with the skills of infrared imaging, has revealed new insights into the nature of the galaxy.” Telescopes have looked at the Cartwheel Galaxy before, but our view has been obscured by gas and dust. #Webb, with its infrared imaging capabilities, has revealed new insights into the nature of the galaxy ???? (left: @HUBBLE_space 2010, right: @ESA_Webb 2022) pic.twitter.com/yC407vXPLP — ESA (@esa) August 2, 2022 It is unusual to see the Cartwheel Galaxy, which is 500 million light-years away in the constellation Sculptor. This dramatic event is a high-speed collision between a large spiral galaxy and a smaller galaxy that is not visible in this image, but is what gave it the appearance of a wagon wheel. Cartwheel is one of many other, smaller incidents resulting from galactic-scale collisions between the galaxies involved, the space agency added. In addition, the structure and geometry of the galaxy was significantly affected by the collision, and it consists of two rings – a bright inner ring and a vibrant outer one. These two rings grow farther away from the point of collision. The structure resembles ripples in a lake when a stone is thrown into it. Because of these distinctive features, astronomers refer to this galaxy as a “ring galaxy,” a structure that is less common than spiral galaxies like the Milky Way. Huge young star clusters are seen in the brightest regions of the core, which also includes a huge amount of hot dust. On the other hand, star formation and supernovae dominate the outer ring, which has been growing for nearly 440 million years. This ring collides with the surrounding gas as it grows, causing stars to form, NASA further said. Cartwheel has been studied by other observatories in the past, including the Hubble Space Telescope. However, given the amount of dust blocking the view, the mysterious galaxy may actually be buried in mystery. The Webb Telescope is now revealing new information about the nature of the Cartwheel due to its ability to detect infrared light.
