Webb Captures Stellar Gymnastics in the Cartwheel Galaxy

August 02, 2022 10:00AM (EDT)Release ID: 2022-039
Colorful near- and mid-infrared image of a large ring-shaped galaxy with two smaller spiral companion galaxies, all seen face-on, with a background of much smaller, more distant galaxies of various colors, shapes, and sizes.

Summary

Webb’s Instruments Reveal New Details About Star Formation

The Cartwheel Galaxy, a rare ring galaxy once shrouded in dust and mystery, has been unveiled by the imaging capabilities of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. 

The galaxy, which formed as a result of a collision between a large spiral galaxy and another smaller galaxy, not only retained a lot of its spiral character, but has also experienced massive changes throughout its structure. 

Webb’s high-precision instruments resolved individual stars and star-forming regions within the Cartwheel, and revealed the behavior of the black hole within its galactic center. These new details provide a renewed understanding of a galaxy in the midst of a slow transformation.

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News releases highlighting the discoveries of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope are produced for NASA by the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Maryland, under NASA Contract NAS5-03127. News release content is developed by the News Team in STScI’s Office of Public Outreach.

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