James Webb captures a stunning colliding pair of galaxies

By Georgina Torbet Published October 30, 2022

A recently released image from the James Webb Space Telescope shows the stunning galaxies IC 1623 A and B, located 270 million light-years away, which are in the process of merging. As the two galaxies crash together, they are intersecting and feeding high levels of star formation, creating an area known as a starburst region.

James Webb captured the image using three of its instruments: MIRI, NIRSpec, and NIRCam. Each instrument looked in a different portion of the infrared to see the different features of the merging galaxy. “This interacting galaxy system is particularly bright at infrared wavelengths, making it a perfect proving ground for Webb’s ability to study luminous galaxies,” Webb scientists write.

This image from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope depicts IC 1623, an entwined pair of interacting galaxies which lies around 270 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Cetus. The two galaxies in IC 1623 are plunging headlong into one another in a process known as a galaxy merger. Their collision has ignited a frenzied spate of star formation known as a starburst, creating new stars at a rate more than twenty times that of the Milky Way galaxy. — This image from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope depicts IC 1623 is an entwined pair of interacting galaxies which lies around 270 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Cetus. ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, L. Armus & A. Evans Acknowledgement: R. Colombari

The rapid formation of stars occurs as tidal forces from the gravity of the two galaxies tug at clouds of dust and gas, spurring the birth of new stars. It is also thought that as the two galaxies merge, they may be forming a new supermassive black hole.

This image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope depicts IC 1623. It combines data from Hubble’s ACS and WFC3 instruments, gives a familiar visible-light view of these colliding galaxies, where the centres of the individual galaxies are more obscured by dark dust. — This image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope also depicts IC 1623. ESA/Hubble & NASA, R. Chandar

The same merging pair of galaxies were previously imaged using the Hubble Space Telescope’s Advanced Camera for Surveys and Wide Field Camera 3 instruments. Taken in the visible light range, this image shows the equivalent of what the human eye would see when looking at the galaxies. The galaxies are darker, particularly in the center, as parts of the image are obscured by dust. By comparing this image to the Webb image above, you can see how Webb’s infrared instruments can peer through the dust to see the structure beneath.

Topics

Tech News

Georgina Torbet

Space Writer

Georgina is the Digital Trends space writer, covering human space exploration, planetary science, and cosmology. She…

Space

James Webb images capture the galactic winds of newborn stars

A team of astronomers used the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope to survey the starburst galaxy Messier 82 (M82), which is located 12 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. M82 hosts a frenzy of star formation, sprouting new stars 10 times faster than the Milky Way galaxy. Webb’s infrared capabilities enabled scientists to peer through curtains of dust and gas that have historically obscured the star formation process. This image from Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) instrument shows the centre of M82 with an unprecedented level of detail. With Webb’s resolution, astronomers can distinguish small, bright compact sources that are either individual stars or star clusters. Obtaining an accurate count of the stars and clusters that compose M82’s centre can help astronomers understand the different phases of star formation and the timelines for each stage.

A stunning new pair of images from the James Webb Space Telescope show a new view of a familiar galaxy. Messier 82 is a famous starburst galaxy, full of bright and active star formation, and scientists are using Webb to study how stars are being born in the busy conditions at the center of the galaxy.

Astronomers used Webb's NIRCam instrument to observe the galaxy, and by splitting the resulting data into shorter and longer wavelengths, you can see different features which are picked out in the bustling, active region where stars are forming.

Space

Stunning image shows the magnetic fields of our galaxy’s supermassive black hole

The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration, who produced the first ever image of our Milky Way black hole released in 2022, has captured a new view of the massive object at the center of our Galaxy: how it looks in polarized light. This is the first time astronomers have been able to measure polarization, a signature of magnetic fields, this close to the edge of Sagittarius A*. This image shows the polarized view of the Milky Way black hole. The lines mark the orientation of polarization, which is related to the magnetic field around the shadow of the black hole.

The Event Horizon Telescope collaboration, the group that took the historic first-ever image of a black hole, is back with a new stunning black hole image. This one shows the magnetic fields twirling around the supermassive black hole at the heart of our galaxy, Sagittarius A*.

Black holes are hard to image because they swallow anything that comes close to them, even light, due to their immensely powerful gravity. However, that doesn't mean they are invisible. The black hole itself can't be seen, but the swirling matter around the event horizon's edges glows brightly enough to be imaged. This new image takes advantage of a feature of light called polarization, revealing the powerful magnetic fields that twirl around the enormous black hole.

Space

The expansion rate of the universe still has scientists baffled

This image of NGC 5468, a galaxy located about 130 million light-years from Earth, combines data from the Hubble and James Webb space telescopes. This is the most distant galaxy in which Hubble has identified Cepheid variable stars. These are important milepost markers for measuring the expansion rate of the Universe. The distance calculated from Cepheids has been cross-correlated with a Type Ia supernova in the galaxy. Type Ia supernovae are so bright they are used to measure cosmic distances far beyond the range of the Cepheids, extending measurements of the Universe’s expansion rate deeper into space.

The question of how fast the universe is expanding continues to confound scientists. Although it might seem like a fairly straightforward issue, the reality is that it has been perplexing the best minds in physics and astronomy for decades -- and new research using the James Webb Space Telescope and the Hubble Space Telescope doesn't make the answer any clearer.

Scientists know that the universe is expanding over time, but what they can't agree on is the rate at which this is happening -- called the Hubble constant. There are two main methods used to estimate this constant: one that looks at how fast distant galaxies are moving away from us, and one that looks at leftover energy from the Big Bang called the cosmic microwave background. The trouble is, these two methods give different results.