【▲ Cluster “Abell 2744” (Credit: Science: NASA, ESA, CSA, Ivo Labbe (Swinburne), Rachel Bezanson (University of Pittsburgh); Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI))】
This is the galaxy cluster “Abell 2744” about 3.5 billion light years away in the direction of “Sculptor”. Abell 2744 is thought to have formed as a result of multiple galaxy clusters colliding, and the image shows three large galaxy clusters coming together to form an even larger cluster. Abel 2744 is also known as “Pandora’s Cluster” after Pandora’s Box in Greek mythology, as various phenomena are thought to have been caused by the collision of galaxy clusters.
This image was created from multiple data obtained using the James Webb Space Telescope’s Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam), using six different infrared filters.（※1）. The width of the image is about one-fifth of the full moon’s apparent diameter (field of view is 5.88 x 4.47 arcmin), but it was created as a panorama by combining four images obtained after a total of about 30 hours of observation time. increase.
*1…Because the Webb Space Telescope mainly observes in infrared wavelengths that cannot be seen by the human eye, the colors in the published images are those that are colored according to the filters used at the time of acquisition. In this image, 1.15 μm and 1.5 μm are colored blue, 2.0 μm and 2.77 μm green, and 3.56 μm and 4.44 μm red.
Most of the numerous celestial bodies scattered throughout the field of view are galaxies consisting of tens of billions to hundreds of billions of stars. According to the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), which operates the Webb Space Telescope, there are about 50,000 near-infrared objects in the image, including galaxies in Abell 2744 and more distant galaxies behind it. is said to be in the picture.
Astronomer Rachel Bezanson of the University of Pittsburgh, co-principal investigator of the UNCOVER program that observed Abell 2744 with the Webb Space Telescope, described the first time he saw the image sent to him: “Very detailed foreground. galaxies and gravitational lensing（※2）It was as if I was lost in the many images of distant galaxies that I received,” he recalls. Also, Ivo Labbe, an astronomer at Swinburne University of Technology who is also a co-principal researcher of the UNCOVER program, said, “It was as beautiful as a simulation of galaxy formation, and I had to remember that it was real data.” increase.
*2: Space-time is distorted by the mass of the celestial body in front (lens celestial body), which changes the traveling direction of the light emitted from the celestial body (light source) on the other side, distorting or enlarging the image from the earth. A phenomenon that appears to be
This observation by the Webb Space Telescope is just the beginning of the observations planned by the UNCOVER program. The program’s next step is to scrutinize the acquired images and select galaxies for follow-up observations with NIRCam. Further observations by Abell 2744, scheduled for the summer of 2023, will provide information such as the chemical composition and precise distances of distant galaxies under gravitational lensing, providing new insights into the formation and evolution of galaxies in the early universe. It is hoped that this will provide valuable insight.
The top image was released on February 15, 2023 by STScI, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the European Space Agency (ESA).
Source
- Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, I. Labbe (Swinburne University of Technology), R. Bezanson (University of Pittsburgh), A. Pagan (STScI)
- STScI – NASA’s Webb Uncovers New Details in Pandora’s Cluster
- ESA/Webb – Webb Uncovers New Details in Pandora’s Cluster
- NASA – NASA’s Webb Uncovers New Details in Pandora’s Cluster
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