The space telescope, which provides answers to the mysteries of the universe, raises a question this time.
The James Webb Space Telescope has found a galaxy in deep space near a pair of young stars called Herbig-Haro 46/47. However, the fact that the galaxy is in the shape of a perfect question mark stunned scientists.
Could this question mark be a message to humanity?
According to preliminary estimates, this galaxy, which leaves a question mark in mind, may actually be formed by the merger of two separate galaxies pulling each other by gravity.
Head of astronomy at the University of Sussex, Dr. Stephen Wilkins said, “There are hundreds of billions of galaxies in the universe that we can observe from our vantage point. Most of them have a spiral or elliptical shape, so from afar it looks like a speck,” he explains.
“Like clouds, if you look long enough at these galaxies, you can find some shapes that look familiar. But still, it’s undeniably interesting to see a question mark in the universe.”
Astronomers have found galaxies that look like everything from penguins to roses and letters in the alphabet before. While Wilkins admits that the shape of the galaxy is indeed unusual, he is skeptical that it is a message.
“Sorry to say that this galaxy is unlikely to be a message to humanity. On the other hand, this discovery demonstrates the telescope’s incredible ability to explore our universe in a way that has never been seen before.”
As space telescopes develop, the shapes of celestial bodies change.
This galaxy appeared on the outside of an image taken by the James Webb Space Telescope, the most powerful telescope ever launched into space, able to see galaxies that existed only a few hundred million years after the Big Bang.
The near-infrared image captures the newborn stars Herbig-Haro 46/47, the surrounding blue nebula, and background galaxies, just 1,470 light-years away in the constellation Vela.
“Since astronomers have turned their eyes to the stars, we tend to discern the patterns we find there,” says Gregory Brown, an astronomer at the Royal Greenwich Observatory.
Many nebulae and galaxies, which are interstellar gas clouds, are named after their shape. But many of these patterns, first noticed by astronomers, changed as telescopes improved and the details of each object became clearer.
Brown points out that the shapes of galaxies may change depending on technological developments.
Galaxies, once seen as a faint speck with the rough shape of a Christmas tree or a human head, are now seen more as complex clouds and filaments of gas and dust. Maybe one day we will be able to look at this galaxy with such high quality telescopes that the question mark shape will be lost among the new details we can see.”
Experts believe this shape was formed by the collision of two galaxies that share the same gravitational field. The dot on the question mark could be the larger galaxy pulling a smaller galaxy into it in a curved line. On the other hand, it is possible that only two galaxies close to each other formed this shape. The red colors of the galaxy indicate that they are very far away.
2023-08-08 14:14:00
#question #mark #hidden #depths #space #interesting #but..
