The James Webb Telescope has ushered in a new era in astronomy. A collaboration between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), the instrument studies the early universe, the evolution of galaxies, the life cycles of stars, and the existence and composition of other worlds. The largest and most powerful telescope in space, launched on December 25, 2021, and located 1.5 million kilometers away, celebrates its second anniversary of scientific operations with a new image of the cosmos.
Friday July 12, NASA and ESA have released a new image of the galaxy duo Arp 142, nicknamed “the Penguin and the Egg”. These two galaxies have been interacting for 25 to 75 million years and, one day, will become one, as explained by the Spanish daily El País.
The Webb probe, which specializes in capturing infrared light, has revealed additional details about Arp 142, which lies 326 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Hydra. The two galaxies are actually locked in a slow cosmic dance, linked by a blue haze composed of a mixture of stars and gas.
A small distance in astronomical terms
The Penguin, the former spiral galaxy NGC 2937, has deformed to resemble its namesake: its galactic center glows like an eye, and its coiled arms now form a beak, head, spine, and outstretched tail. The Egg, the elliptical galaxy NGC 2936, remains virtually unchanged, containing less gas and dust.
Penguins make excellent parents, even in space.
Celebrating 2 years of science, this new Webb image shows 2 galaxies: a Penguin (NGC 2936) guarding an Egg (NGC 2937). Webb reveals they are in a cosmic hug, joined together by a blue haze of stars & gas: pic.twitter.com/rqtXauvtKr
— NASA Webb Telescope (@NASAWebb) July 12, 2024
The Penguin and the Egg are estimated to be about 100,000 light-years apart, a relatively small distance in astronomical terms. For comparison, the Milky Way and its closest neighbor, the Andromeda Galaxy, are about 2.5 million light-years apart.
Webb’s image is also filled with distant galaxies. Some have spiral and oval shapes, like those found in the penguin’s “tail feathers,” while others are scattered throughout the universe. The photograph is a demonstration of the sensitivity of the telescope’s infrared instruments.
Friday, July 12, 2024, one year has passed since the American space agency released the first images of Webb to the scientific community and the public. The most significant discovery of the probe’s first year of exploration is that of an enigmatic new type of galaxy, nicknamed “the little red dots”. For their part, the Penguin and the Egg will continue their choreography in space, until they become a single galaxy. It is estimated that this fusion will occur in hundreds of millions of years.
Source: www.slate.fr
