James Webb telescope had new images of the galaxy NGC 7469. This galaxy with an active black hole at its center is in an ideal position for observations: its entire plane faces the Earth. But a special Christmas charm was given to the image by image defects caused by stretch marks on the secondary mirror of the telescope. The streamers created the effect of a six-pointed star, the festive top of a Christmas tree.
The spiral galaxy NGC 7469 is located 230 million light-years away. Previously, this object and its companion, the smaller galaxy IC 5283, observed the Hubble Space Telescope. Together, both galaxies form the structure of Arp 298. They are connected by gravitational interaction and actively influence each other: they steal matter and distort the galactic tango in pairs. Observing these objects allows us to see the interaction of galaxies at great distances, as well as to study the growth of supermassive black holes using the example of a hole in the center of a larger partner.
Since James Webb is equipped with infrared observing devices that Hubble does not have, the image of NGC 7469 turned out to be brighter in the center – there is a lot of matter falling on the black hole, which releases a lot of energy during the accretion process even in the infrared spectrum.
Image source: Hubble, NASA
The galaxy NGC 7469, which lies towards us with its entire plane, allows us to see all the star formation zones within it. Combined with disturbances from the smaller galaxy IC 5283, this is an ideal object for observing many processes in the Universe in one place. Apparently, we will come back to this couple more than once. And now we can simply say: firstly, it’s beautiful…
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