Webb Captures Stellar Gymnastics in The Cartwheel Galaxy

The latest image from the James Webb Space Telescope shows the Cartwheel Galaxy along with its two companion galaxies sitting to its left , located about 500 million light years from us the Cartwheel Galaxy is seen in unprecedented detail compared with the observations of it by Hubble and also shows many other galaxies that lie beyond.


The Cartwheel Galaxy as seen by Hubble.

The Cartwheel Galaxy, located about 500 million light-years away in the Sculptor constellation, is a rare sight. Its appearance, much like that of the wheel of a wagon, is the result of an intense event – a high-speed collision between a large spiral galaxy and a smaller galaxy not visible in this image. Collisions of galactic proportions cause a cascade of different, smaller events between the galaxies involved; the Cartwheel is no exception.

The collision most notably affected the galaxy’s shape and structure. The Cartwheel Galaxy sports two rings — a bright inner ring and a surrounding, colorful ring. These two rings expand outwards from the center of the collision, like ripples in a pond after a stone is tossed into it. Because of these distinctive features, astronomers call this a “ring galaxy,” a structure less common than spiral galaxies like our Milky Way.

The bright core contains a tremendous amount of hot dust with the brightest areas being the home to gigantic young star clusters. On the other hand, the outer ring, which has expanded for about 440 million years, is dominated by star formation and supernovas. As this ring expands, it plows into surrounding gas and triggers star formation.

Other telescopes, including the Hubble Space Telescope, have previously examined the Cartwheel. But the dramatic galaxy has been shrouded in mystery – perhaps literally, given the amount of dust that obscures the view. Webb, with its ability to detect infrared light, now uncovers new insights into the nature of the Cartwheel.
www.nasa.gov...

Hmm, I kinda like the Hubble one better, better clarity of the inner rings. But overall quality James it better.
But could be because of the different wavelength it was captured in

Amazing new images. I like the NIRCam image specifically: stsci-opo.org...

a reply to: gortex

I often imagine another Human like civilization when I see a Galaxy like this . Perhaps they are looking at the Milky-Way Galaxy with a telescope wondering if there is life beyond there's and for that brief moment we both have the same thought from across the universe and our minds connect if only for an instant.

It depresses me greatly that ill likely die an Old man on Earth with no chance to see the stars.

a reply to: asabuvsobelow

It depresses me greatly that ill likely die an Old man on Earth with no chance to see the stars

At least we live in a time when we can see pictures of what's out there from the comfort of our homes , we may never get to see them with our own eyes but think of the generations who's only view of the Stars was looking up at the night sky , in a way we are blessed by the technology that allows us to see the Cosmos.

a reply to: gortex
These images are great
They look almost like microbes or amoeba to me.
But these are many lightyears in diameter.
I still can't comprehend the scale of it all.

When I see an incredible photo like this I wonder how many civilizations are surviving in the outer rim?

a reply to: gortex

We know by now how our species can be intrinsically geared to discovery and adaptation to abstract thought. Viewing the cosmos as it is, or rather was, allows us a perspective vastly different from the general perspectives we were taught by our ancestors.

In all likelihood, hundred years from now the Cartwheel Galaxy will appear almost entirely the same, spinning and spinning with no end in sight, only fractionally evolved from how it has been for billions of year while here at home, I wonder who we will be as we look at it then?

OH, edit to ask. G, thanks for keeping us filled with these visions so can you keep them coming?

a reply to: TerryMcGuire

As long as they're being released I'll keep on posting them mate.

Stunning. Thank you for the beautiful pics!

a reply to: gortex

I often wonder that in our lifetime we only get to see and exist on one tiny spec of The Universe called Planet Earth.

Unless we are continually reborn in other parts of the universe maybe '/

Im waiting for the pay per view live from Webb where you can control it yourself.

originally posted by: Blackfinger
Im waiting for the pay per view live from Webb where you can control it yourself.

That would be fun.

However, the data from Webb's observations are mostly in the infrared, which means we can't "see" most of the light Webb is capturing until the wavelengths are shifted into the visible part of the EM spectrum. Plus, many of the images that get released are multiple images (seen through different filters) that are layered on top of each other. They are also the result of long exposures -- sometimes a few hours long (and they are planning days-long exposures in the future).

That is all to say that there is some processing that needs to be done to Webb's observations to get images like this. These images being released are not what Webb is seeing "live" at any given moment.

Anton Petrobras came out with an excellent video about these pictures yesterday, as usual. Great information and explanation. It is about 500 million light years away and a part of a group of 4 galaxies. The Cartwheel Galaxy apparently had a collision with the galaxy to its left. And is in the process of forming into a normal spiral galaxy.