Amazing Galaxies Collision Recorded in the Lens of the Webb Telescope
Webb is paying close attention as these galaxies collide.
The James Webb Space Telescope observes the collision of two galaxies. They are known together as II ZW 96.
The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope obtained this image of a merging galaxy pair. This pair of galaxies, known to astronomers as II ZW 96, is about 500 million light-years away from Earth and is located near the celestial equator in the constellation Delphinus. Apart from the crazy swirl of the merging galaxies, the picture has a slew of background galaxies.
The two galaxies are merging and have a chaotic, distorted structure as a result. The two galaxies’ luminous centers are linked by brilliant tendrils of star-forming regions, and the lower galaxy’s spiral arms have been twisted out of shape by the gravitational disturbance of the galactic merger. These star-forming areas are what attracted Webb to II ZW 96; the galaxy pair is very luminous at infrared wavelengths because to the presence of the star formation.
This finding comes from a set of observations by Webb looking at specific features of galactic evolution, specifically in neighboring luminous Infrared Galaxies such as II ZW 96. As the name suggests. At their core, these galaxies are particularly luminous at infrared wavelengths, with luminosity exceeding 100 billion times that of the sun. Shortly after the telescope was commissioned, an international team of astronomers proposed the study of complex galactic ecosystems, including the galaxies merging in II ZW 96. ground-based telescopes and NASA/ESA’s Hubble Space Telescope observed selected targets, providing scientists with insights into Webb’s potential to untangle the features of the Earth. Complicated galaxy settings.
Webb imaged this merging galaxy pair using two of his advanced instruments, the NIR Cam (Near Infrared Camera) and MIRI (Medium Infrared Instrument). If you want to look at the difference between Hubble and Webb’s observations of II ZW 96, you can do it here.
MIRI was sponsored by ESA and NASA, and the instrument was planned and built in collaboration with JPL and the University of Arizona by a coalition of nationally supported European Institutions (The MIRI European Collaboration). The NIR Cam equipment was also given by the University of Arizona.
This is an unusually shaped system of merging galaxies. Strong early starburst zones cling to the major galaxy cores as lengthy threadlike structures. The system is virtually ultra luminous, but it has not yet reached the late stage of coalescence that is typical of most ultra luminous systems. Zw II 96 is around 500 million light-years distant from Earth, in the constellation Delphinus, the Dolphin.
This image is part of a large collection of 59 images of merging galaxies taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and released on the occasion of its 18th anniversary on 24th April 2008.
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