Scientists spot ‘cosmic question mark’ far, far away

By Dean Murray via SWNS

Space scientists have pictured a 'cosmic question mark'.

Astronomers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope say the observation of a distant galaxy cluster offers clues about how stars are formed.

They note the images of a galaxy pair seen in Webb’s image trace the top of the question mark, while an unrelated galaxy forms the dot of the question mark from our perspective.

The Webb Mission Team said: "While this region has been observed previously with NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, the dusty red galaxy that forms the intriguing question mark shape only came into view with Webb.

"This is a result of the wavelengths of light that Hubble detects getting trapped in cosmic dust, while longer wavelengths of infrared light are able to pass through and be detected by Webb’s instruments."

Astronomers used both telescopes to observe the galaxy cluster MACS-J0417.5-1154, which acts like a magnifying glass because the cluster is so massive it warps the fabric of space-time.

The Webb Mission Team said: "The red galaxy revealed by Webb, along with a spiral galaxy it is interacting with that was previously detected by Hubble, are being magnified and distorted in an unusual way, which requires a particular, rare alignment between the distant galaxies, the lens, and the observer — something astronomers call a hyperbolic umbilic gravitational lens.

"This accounts for the five images of the galaxy pair seen in Webb’s image, four of which trace the top of the question mark. The dot of the question mark is an unrelated galaxy that happens to be in the right place and space-time, from our perspective."

The rare alignment across light-years of space is thought to date back 7 billion years ago in what NASA says was the "universe’s heyday of star formation".

“We know of only three or four occurrences of similar gravitational lens configurations in the observable universe, which makes this find exciting, as it demonstrates the power of Webb and suggests maybe now we will find more of these,” said astronomer Guillaume Desprez of Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, a member of the team presenting the Webb results.

"These galaxies, seen billions of years ago when star formation was at its peak, are similar to the mass that the Milky Way galaxy would have been at that time. Webb is allowing us to study what the teenage years of our own galaxy would have been like," said astronomer Marcin Sawicki of Saint Mary’s University, one of the lead researchers on the team.