NASA’s James Webb Telescope captures the amazing Wheel Galaxy 500 million light-years from Earth
The James Webb Telescope shares this stunning image of the Trolley Galaxy that offers some never-before-seen details in the galaxy’s structure.
NASA just released the latest images from the $10 billion James Webb Space infrared space observatory Telescope and it’s spectacular! This time, the world’s largest telescope has captured the color wheel of the Cartwheel Galaxy with unprecedented clarity. Although the new image resembles the wheel of an old chariot, previously studied by Hubble Space Telescope, Webb’s infrared view captured some unseen details in the galaxy’s structure. New images taken by NIRCam and Webb’s MIRI, show the individual stars in the star-forming regions of the Cartwheel galaxy’s outer ring. It also shows that very young star clusters around the galaxy’s central supermassive black hole are covered in dust.
According to NASA, the Cartwheel galaxy is located The earth in the constellation of Sculpture. It took shape in a spectacular head-on collision between the two galaxies that created two rings extending from the galactic center, “like ripples in a pond after a stone is thrown at it,” Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in a statement. There is a smaller white ring near the center of the galaxy, while the outer ring, with its burst of color, has expanded into The universe for about 440 million years.
Images taken by the Webb Telescope also show areas rich in hydrocarbons and silicate dust, connecting the inner and outer rings. Previously, the Hubble Space Telescope also examined the Cartwheel, but it was shrouded in mystery due to the amount of dust obscuring the view. STScI says the new NASA telescope observations make these features much clearer.
The Cartwheel Galaxy is still transforming due to the crash, and new observations will provide insights into its past and future evolution.
