Dramatic New Webb Telescope Images Show Collision of Galaxies 270 Million Light-Years Away
Posted on October 26, 2022
The $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) continues to provide marvelous images of the deep sky.
Just days after its epic “Pillars of Creation” mega-image and other bizarre “smoke rings” around two massive stars, NASA released its latest stunning sighting, a pair of galaxies in a cosmic collision.
The image is of IC 1623, an intertwined pair of interacting galaxies about 70 million light-years from Earth in the constellation of Cetus “the Whale”.
The main image, above, is created using data captured using JWST’s NIRCam instrument, which is capable of detecting ultra-low infrared light, in which IC 1623, like most distant galaxies, shines brightly.
The image features six-pointed spikes, just like a snowflake. Here’s why.
Infrared light is very old, long-wave light that cannot be detected on Earth or by other space telescopes. While Hubble deals with ultraviolet and visible wavelengths of light, JWST is equipped to detect longer infrared wavelengths at unprecedented resolution.
However, the collision of these two galaxies is not an end, but a beginning. Galaxy mergers such as IC 1623 trigger a star explosion – the creation of stars 20 times faster than what is currently happening in our Milky Way galaxy.
In addition to merging the brand new data from JWST with data from previous Hubble observations, adding visible light, the astronomers also captured IC 1623 using the other instruments of the fledgling space telescope, MIRI (which sees into the mid-infrared) and NIRSpec (which splits light from an object into the spectrum).
In the wake of its incredible first images last summer, JWST has been busy capturing the colorful Cartwheel Galaxy, one of the first stars dubbed “Earendel” and planetary views including breathtaking Jupiter and the rings of Uranus.
Observing the cosmos about a million miles from Earth, Webb is the most ambitious and complex space science telescope ever built, with a massive 6.5-meter primary mirror that will be able to detect faint starlight and distant galaxies. It is designed to detect infrared light emitted by distant stars, planets, and clouds of gas and dust.
During its initial 10-year mission, JWST will study the solar system, directly image exoplanets, photograph early galaxies, and explore the mysteries of the origins of the Universe.