The James Webb Space Telescope peered through time and space to capture a new image of the Cartwheel Galaxy, revealing the rotating color ring in unprecedented clarity.
Located about 500 million light-years from Earth in the constellation of the Sculptor, the Cartwheel took its shape during a potentially spectacular head-on collision between two galaxies. The impact sent two rings expanding from the center of the galaxy, “like ripples in a pond after a stone has been dropped into it,” Nasa and the European Space Agency (ESA) said in a joint statement. A smaller white ring remains near the center of the galaxy, while the outer ring, with its colored rays, extends into the universe for about 440 million years, the statement added. As the outer ring expands it encounters clouds of gas, triggering the formation of new stars. The Hubble telescope had already captured images of the rare ring galaxy, which is believed to have been a spiral galaxy like our own before it was struck by a smaller invader galaxy. However, the Webb telescope, which launched in December 2021 and revealed its first images to global fanfare last month, has a much longer range.
Infrared waves hit the dust
Webb’s ability to detect infrared light allowed it to see through the “vast amount of hot dust” obscuring the view of the Cartwheel galaxy, Nasa and ESA said. This revealed new details about star formation in the galaxy, as well as the behavior of the supermassive black hole at its heart, they said. The space telescope was also able to detect areas rich in hydrocarbons and other chemicals. Behind the Cartwheel, two smaller spiral galaxies shine brightly, while even more star clusters can be seen behind them. The observations show that the Cartwheel Galaxy is still in a “very transitional stage,” the space agency said. “While Webb gives us a snapshot of Cartwheel’s current state, it also provides insight into what happened in this galaxy in the past and how it will evolve in the future.”
