James Webb telescope reveals gargantuan 'Mothra' star in most colorful image of the universe ever taken
By Jamie Carter published about 5 hours ago
The James Webb and Hubble space telescopes have combined forces to image a cluster of galaxies 4.3 billion light-years away in one of the most colorful pictures of the universe ever taken.
Twinkling red, yellow and red galaxies burst to life in this JWST/ Hubble joint. (Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, J. Diego (Instituto de Física de Cantabria, Spain), J. D’Silva (U. Western Australia), A. Koekemoer (STScI), J. Summers & R. Windhorst (ASU), and H. Yan (U. Missouri).)
NASA has combined the power of its two premier space telescopes to produce one of the most colorful and comprehensive views of the universe ever.
Using data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and Hubble Space Telescope to collect light in different wavelengths, a new, combined image reveals a parade of stars and galaxies within the massive galaxy cluster MACS0416, 4.3 billion light-years from the solar system. While JWST detects infrared light invisible to humans, Hubble detects visible light; the resulting panchromatic image creates colors that help astronomers measure vast cosmic distances.
For example, a landscape of galaxies in blue and red can be seen surrounding the yellowish line of lights that make up MACS0416. The bluest galaxies, which mostly come from Hubble's data, are both the closest to Earth and the busiest hotbeds of star formation. The redder galaxies are much dustier and farther away. They're the work of JWST's infrared instruments, which can detect heat signatures through dust clouds.
The image also includes concentric circles curving around MACS0416. They're actually objects far behind, magnified by MACS0416's gravitational field. This gravitational lensing occurs when a massive foreground object distorts the space around it and bends the light from objects behind it. The result of this chance alignment is often referred to as a "cosmic magnifying glass," which both reveals and magnifies objects.
More:
https://www.livescience.com/space/astronomy/james-webb-telescope-reveals-gargantuan-mothra-star-in-most-colorful-image-of-the-universe-ever-taken
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