NASA/ESA/CSA/Joseph DePasquale (STScI)
Metropolis Desk-
One of the most recent photographs taken by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope was photobombed by a cosmic object that resembled a luminous question mark, and scientists believe they know what it might be.
Herbig-Haro 46/47, a pair of young stars, were shown in the first near-infrared image, which was published on July 26. The stars, which can be found 1,470 light-years away in the Vela constellation of the Milky Way galaxy, are still actively developing and in close orbits around one another.
Since the 1950s, ground-based and space telescopes have viewed and analyzed the two, but the highly sensitive Webb telescope was able to provide the sharpest and most detailed image yet. Compared to other space telescopes, it can observe the universe with longer light wavelengths.
The Webb telescope sheds light on knowledge about the universe’s beginnings, but the presence of this enigmatic object in the image’s background raises more questions than it answers. Since the cosmic question mark hasn’t been closely seen or investigated, scientists are unsure of the object’s history and composition.
However, based on its form and location, they do have a few theories.
According to Matt Caplan, an assistant professor of physics at Illinois State University, “The very first thing you can rule out is that it’s a star in the Milky Way.” Because stars are point-like, they constantly have these enormous spikes. The struts that support the camera in the center and the edges of the mirrors are essentially what causes the phenomenon known as diffraction.
“If you look closely, you can typically see six or eight stellar “prongs” with the Webb telescope”, Caplan added. He described the apparition as having the shape of a question mark as “it tells you immediately that it’s not a star.”
According to Christopher Britt, an education and outreach scientist in the office of public outreach at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which oversees the science operations of the Webb telescope, it could be a merger of two galaxies that are much more distant than Herbig-Haro 46/47 and are likely billions of light-years away.
Outside of the Milky Way, there are “many, many galaxies,” according to Britt. As galaxies expand and change over cosmic time, they occasionally collide with their nearby neighbors, and this appears to be a rather common occurrence.
And when that occurs, they can deform into a variety of various shapes, including, presumably, a question mark.
The merging of galaxies into a question mark-like shape has occurred previously, including a reverse version made by the Antennae Galaxies in the Corvus constellation, however, it is likely the first time this particular item has been seen, according to specialists. Additionally, Britt noted that most galaxies have seen several brief contacts like this during their histories.
Nothing can be anchored in space, according to Caplan. “The sun is moving as it orbits the galaxy, and the galaxy, being made of stars, is moving in whichever direction gravity pulls it.”
Our galaxy will eventually join with the Andromeda galaxy in around 4 billion years, according to Britt, although the timing of that merger is unknown.
It’s also possible that the shape of the question mark is “indicative of a merger where these two galaxies are interacting gravitationally,” according to Britt. “That hook of the question mark at the top looks a lot like what we refer to as a tidal tail, where the stream of stars and gas has sort of been ripped off and flown out into space,” the observer said.
More spectroscopic information on the object would provide additional information, including its distance and chemical makeup, according to Britt and Caplan.
However, no one will do this since it is extremely similar to the story of the “local man who finds a chicken tender that looks like George Washington,” Caplan added. But if you were driven enough, you could make some observations.
Source- CNN
