NASA

NASA’s Webb Reveals Distorted Galaxy Forming Cosmic Question Mark

It’s 7 billion years ago, and the universe’s heyday of star formation is beginning to slow. What might our Milky Way galaxy have looked like at that time? Astronomers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope have found clues in the form of a cosmic question mark, the result of a rare alignment across light-years of space.

“We know of only three or four occurrences of similar gravitational lens configurations in the observable universe, which makes this find exciting, as it demonstrates the power of Webb and suggests maybe now we will find more of these,” said astronomer Guillaume Desprez of Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, a member of the team presenting the Webb results.

Image A: Lensed Question Mark (NIRCam)

Amid a field of galaxies, a repeated, elongated red galaxy forms a shape like the top of a question mark, with another galaxy positioned like the question mark’s dot. In each occurrence, another white, clumpy galaxy with an overall circular shape appears perched on top of the red galaxy. A very bright foreground galaxy appears to the right of the bottom curve of the question mark shape. To the lower right, among other galaxies, another occurrence of the galaxy pair appears, unaffiliated with the question mark shape.

The galaxy cluster MACS-J0417.5-1154 is so massive it is warping the fabric of space-time and distorting the appearance of galaxies behind it, an effect known as gravitational lensing. This natural phenomenon magnifies distant galaxies and can also make them appear in an image multiple times, as NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope saw here. Two distant, interacting galaxies — a face-on spiral and a dusty red galaxy seen from the side — appear multiple times, tracing a familiar shape across the sky. Active star formation, and the face-on galaxy’s remarkably intact spiral shape, indicate that these galaxies’ interaction is just beginning.

NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, V. Estrada-Carpenter (Saint Mary’s University).

While this region has been observed previously with NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, the dusty red galaxy that forms the intriguing question-mark shape only came into view with Webb. This is a result of the wavelengths of light that Hubble detects getting trapped in cosmic dust, while longer wavelengths of infrared light are able to pass through and be detected by Webb’s instruments.

Astronomers used both telescopes to observe the galaxy cluster MACS-J0417.5-1154, which acts like a magnifying glass because the cluster is so massive it warps the fabric of space-time. This allows astronomers to see enhanced detail in much more distant galaxies behind the cluster. However, the same gravitational effects that magnify the galaxies also cause distortion, resulting in galaxies that appear smeared across the sky in arcs and even appear multiple times. These optical illusions in space are called gravitational lensing.

The red galaxy revealed by Webb, along with a spiral galaxy it is interacting with that was previously detected by Hubble, are being magnified and distorted in an unusual way, which requires a particular, rare alignment between the distant galaxies, the lens, and the observer — something astronomers call a hyperbolic umbilic gravitational lens. This accounts for the five images of the galaxy pair seen in Webb’s image, four of which trace the top of the question mark. The dot of the question mark is an unrelated galaxy that happens to be in the right place and space-time, from our perspective.

Image B: Hubble and Webb Side by Side

Webb View: The same region of space in side-by-side images. The left image is labeled “Hubble” and the galaxies shown have an overall yellow tone and haze. The image on the right is labeled “Webb.” In the center of that image, several images of an elongated red galaxy for a shape like the top of a question mark. In comparison it’s clear that some of the features creating the question mark shape are present in the left-hand image as well, but probably wouldn’t be noticed if that image stood alone. The right-hand image is more colorful and defined than the image on the left, with shades of white, red, and a little blue.
Hubble View: The same region of space in side-by-side images. The left image is labeled “Hubble” and the galaxies shown have an overall yellow tone and haze. The image on the right is labeled “Webb.” In the center of that image, several images of an elongated red galaxy for a shape like the top of a question mark. In comparison it’s clear that some of the features creating the question mark shape are present in the left-hand image as well, but probably wouldn’t be noticed if that image stood alone. The right-hand image is more colorful and defined than the image on the left, with shades of white, red, and a little blue.

Hubble, Hubble View: The same region of space in side-by-side images. The left image is labeled “Hubble” and the galaxies shown have an overall yellow tone and haze. The image on the right is labeled “Webb.” In the center of that image, several images of an elongated red galaxy for a shape like the top of a question mark. In comparison it’s clear that some of the features creating the question mark shape are present in the left-hand image as well, but probably wouldn’t be noticed if that image stood alone. The right-hand image is more colorful and defined than the image on the left, with shades of white, red, and a little blue.

Webb, Webb View: The same region of space in side-by-side images. The left image is labeled “Hubble” and the galaxies shown have an overall yellow tone and haze. The image on the right is labeled “Webb.” In the center of that image, several images of an elongated red galaxy for a shape like the top of a question mark. In comparison it’s clear that some of the features creating the question mark shape are present in the left-hand image as well, but probably wouldn’t be noticed if that image stood alone. The right-hand image is more colorful and defined than the image on the left, with shades of white, red, and a little blue.curtaintoggle2-up

Hubble and Webb

Galaxy Cluster MACS-J0417.5-1154

Image Details

In addition to producing a case study of the Webb NIRISS (Near-Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph) instrument’s ability to detect star formation locations within a galaxy billions of light-years away, the research team also couldn’t resist highlighting the question mark shape. “This is just cool looking. Amazing images like this are why I got into astronomy when I was young,” said astronomer Marcin Sawicki of Saint Mary’s University, one of the lead researchers on the team. 

“Knowing when, where, and how star formation occurs within galaxies is crucial to understanding how galaxies have evolved over the history of the universe,” said astronomer Vicente Estrada-Carpenter of Saint Mary’s University, who used both Hubble’s ultraviolet and Webb’s infrared data to show where new stars are forming in the galaxies. The results show that star formation is widespread in both. The spectral data also confirmed that the newfound dusty galaxy is located at the same distance as the face-on spiral galaxy, and they are likely beginning to interact.

“Both galaxies in the Question Mark Pair show active star formation in several compact regions, likely a result of gas from the two galaxies colliding,” said Estrada-Carpenter. “However, neither galaxy’s shape appears too disrupted, so we are probably seeing the beginning of their interaction with each other.”

“These galaxies, seen billions of years ago when star formation was at its peak, are similar to the mass that the Milky Way galaxy would have been at that time. Webb is allowing us to study what the teenage years of our own galaxy would have been like,” said Sawicki.

The Webb images and spectra in this research came from the Canadian NIRISS Unbiased Cluster Survey (CANUCS). The research paper is published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Image C: Wide Field – Lensed Question Mark (NIRCam)

At the center of a field of many colorful galaxies, three elongated red galaxies curve around to approximate the shape of the top of a question mark. Another reddish galaxy appears in about the right position to be the dot of the question mark. A bright white, oval foreground galaxy draws the eye from its position right next to the question mark shape.

Wide Field View: The galaxy cluster MACS-J0417.5-1154 is so massive it is warping the fabric of space-time and distorting the appearance of galaxies behind it, an effect known as gravitational lensing. This natural phenomenon magnifies distant galaxies and can also make them appear in an image multiple times, as NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope saw here. Two distant, interacting galaxies — a face-on spiral and a dusty red galaxy seen from the side — appear multiple times, tracing a familiar shape across the sky. Active star formation, and the face-on galaxy’s remarkably intact spiral shape, indicate that these galaxies’ interaction is just beginning.

NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, V. Estrada-Carpenter (Saint Mary’s University).

The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s premier space science observatory. Webb is solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency).

Downloads

Right click any image to save it or open a larger version in a new tab/window via the browser’s popup menu.

View/Download all image products at all resolutions for this article from the Space Telescope Science Institute.

View/Download the research results from the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Related Information

VIDEO: Gravity – Nature’s Magnifying Glass

VIDEO: What happens when galaxies collide?

ARTICLE: More about Galaxy Evolution


VIDEO: Learn more about Galactic Collisions 

More Webb News

More Webb Images

Webb Science Themes

Webb Mission Page

Related For Kids

What is a galaxy?

What is the Webb Telescope?

SpacePlace for Kids

En Español

Para Niños : Qué es una galaxia?

Ciencia de la NASA

NASA en español 

Space Place para niños

Ben

I am the owner of Cerebral-overload.com and the Verizon Wireless Reviewer for Techburgh.com. My love of gadgets came from his lack of a Nintendo Game Boy when he was a child . I vowed from that day on to get his hands on as many tech products as possible. My approach to a review is to make it informative for the technofile while still making it understandable to everyone. Ben is a new voice in the tech industry and is looking to make a mark wherever he goes. When not reviewing products, I is also a 911 Telecommunicator just outside of Pittsburgh PA. Twitter: @gizmoboaks

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Back to top button