The Webb Space Telescope’s latest target is one previously photographed by Hubble: the distant spiral galaxy EGS23205. Targets like these will enhance our understanding of the early universe and how ancient stars and galaxies formed.
The two images above show EGS23205 as seen by Hubble and Webb. Hubble’s image of the galaxy (taken in the near-infrared) is noisier, and the structure of the galaxy is harder to discern. But Webb’s image (at mid-infrared wavelengths) is sharper, revealing a clear band of stars extending from the galactic center.
Star bars are giant galactic cross-sections of countless stars. Bars play an important role in galactic evolution; they push gas toward the galactic center, helping star formation and feeding supermassive black holes at the cores of galaxies. Our own Milky Way is a barred spiral galaxy.
The image was analyzed presented to the arXiv server ahead of print last year. Webb imaged many ancient galaxies in just six months of scientific operations.
Here are some of Webb’s goals among the earliest galaxies ever seenand they appear to Webb only a few hundred million years after the Big Bang (the universe is now about 14 billion years old).
EGS23205 appears to have been around 11 billion years ago. The figure shows that even early galaxies have well-defined bars (spiral galaxies he thought before being much later arrivals to the universe).
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“The bars, which are difficult to see in the Hubble data, appeared in the JWST image, showing the great power of JWST to see the underlying structure. galaxies” said UT Austin astronomer and study co-author Shardha Jogee. press release.
Webb has previously imaged other objects captured by Hubble. In OctoberThe new $10 billion observatory saw the massive Pillars of Creation Gas and dust plumes in the Eagle Nebula. The Webb team in the same month created an image of merging galaxies 270 million light years from Earth taken by Hubble in 2008.
The two space telescopes observe mainly at different wavelengths – Hubble mainly in visible wavelengths and Webb mainly in infrared and near infrared. Webb’s brilliant handiwork rests on Hubble’s mechanical shoulders. side by side view comparisons show the differences in these impressive observatories and what is possible with the latest technology.
