First Quick Analysis Of James Webb Space Telescope Cartwheel Galaxy Image | JWST Cartwheel galaxy image analysis | jwst image analysis | james webb cartwheel galaxy image analysis
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has peered into the chaos of the Cartwheel Galaxy, revealing new details about star formation and the galaxy’s central black hole. Webb’s powerful infrared gaze produced this detailed image of the Cartwheel and two smaller companion galaxies against a backdrop of many other galaxies. This image provides a new view of how the Cartwheel Galaxy has changed over billions of years.
Here’s a brand new image of the Cartwheel Galaxy as seen by the NASA James Webb Space telescope. Webb offers not just a snapshot of the galaxy’s current state, but also a peek into its past and future. We believe this galaxy started as a spiral galaxy before it collided with a smaller galaxy hundreds of millions of years ago. Now, it’s made up of 2 rings — a bright inner ring and a surrounding, colorful ring. Both expand outwards from the center like pond ripples. This image is a composite view that combines the data from two of Webb’s instruments, NIRCam and MIRI. While Webb’s NIRCam reveals previously unseen young stars, MIRI reveals regions rich in hydrocarbons and chemical compounds, as well as silicate dust — similar to dust on Earth. A large galaxy on the right, with two much smaller companion galaxies to the left. The large galaxy resembles a speckled wheel, with an oval outer ring and a small, off-center inner ring. The outer ring contains pink plumes like wheel spokes, with dusty blue regions in between. The pink areas are silicate dust, while the blue areas are pockets of young stars and hydrocarbon dust. The inner ring is smoother, filled in with a more uniform pale pink. This smaller ring is thin, orange-pink threads. On the galaxy's right edge, a bright white star with 8 diffraction spikes shines. The two companion galaxies to the left, one above the other, are about the same size and both spiral galaxies. The galaxy above is a reverse S shape but similar in coloring and texture as the large ring galaxy. The galaxy below is smoother and largely white, with a blue tinge. The background is black and full of more distant, orange-red colored galaxies
Learning finer details about the dust that inhabits the galaxy, however, requires Webb’s [Mid-Infrared Instrument](MIRI). MIRI data are colored red in this composite image. It reveals regions within the Cartwheel Galaxy rich in hydrocarbons and other chemical compounds, as well as silicate dust, like much of the dust on Earth.
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