AN unexplained cosmic object has left scientists and space fans with more questions than answers.
Nasa‘s James Webb Space Telescope captured a hazy red galaxy for the first time.
While the finding was surprising on its own, it got even weirder.
Among a web of glowing stars, the galaxy curled into the shape of a giant question mark.
The mysterious object was spotted by Webb’s Near-Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph instrument, which is used in exoplanet discovery.
You may be inclined to believe an alien civilization is responsible for the signal, perhaps in an attempt to communicate.
But Nasa researchers say there is a far simpler explanation – a phenomenon called gravitational lensing.
Gravitational lensing occurs when the gravity of a massive object in the foreground bends the light of objects behind it.
The region was previously observed with the Hubble Space Telescope, but the question mark only came into view with Webb.
Astronomers used both to examine the galaxy cluster MACS-J0417.5-1154, which is so massive that it bends the fabric of space-time.
The gravitational effects that magnify the galaxies behind the cluster also cause distortion, causing them to smear and multiply.
The red galaxy and a nearby spiral galaxy previously detected by Hubble are distorted unusually.
The phenomenon requires a rare alignment between the distant galaxies, the lens, and the observer, dubbed a hyperbolic umbilic gravitational lens.
The dot of the question mark is an unrelated galaxy that happens to be in the right spot – at least, from our perspective on Earth.
Astronomer Marcin Sawicki said images like the question mark “are why I got into astronomy when I was young.”
The team took their investigation a step further as they sought to understand how stars were being born inside the galaxies.
In simple terms, a galaxy is a huge collection of gas, dust, and billions of stars and their solar systems, all strung together by gravity.
Results indicated that star formation is widespread in both the red galaxy and its spiral neighbor.
Data also confirmed that the dusty red galaxy is located at the same distance as the spiral galaxy – and they are likely starting to interact.
“Both galaxies in the Question Mark Pair show active star formation in several compact regions, likely a result of gas from the two galaxies colliding,” astronomer Vicente Estrada-Carpenter said.
“However, neither galaxy’s shape appears too disrupted, so we are probably seeing the beginning of their interaction with each other.”
The galaxies are similar in mass to the Milky Way billions of years ago, offering insights into our own galaxy’s teenage years.
Nasa scientists know of only three or four similar gravitational lens configurations in the observable universe.
However, they believe more are lying in wait, on the verge of being discovered.
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a space-based observatory that is designed to complement and extend the discoveries of the Hubble Space Telescope.
It is named after James E. Webb, who was the administrator of Nasa from 1961 to 1968 and played a pivotal role in the Apollo program.
JWST is equipped with a 6.5-meter primary mirror, which is significantly larger than Hubble’s 2.4-meter mirror, allowing it to observe much fainter objects at greater distances.
It operates in the infrared spectrum, which enables it to peer through dust clouds that obscure visible light and to observe the earliest galaxies that formed after the Big Bang.
The telescope was launched on 25th December 2021 and is positioned at the second Lagrange point (L2), approximately 1.5 million kilometres from Earth.
This location provides a stable environment with minimal interference from Earth’s heat and light.
JWST’s scientific goals include studying the formation of stars and planets, understanding the evolution of galaxies, and investigating the potential for life in other parts of the universe.
It is a collaborative project involving Nasa, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).
