Last year, a curious cosmic question mark appeared in an image captured by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), leaving scientists and space enthusiasts baffled. The mysterious shape, which showed up in the lower part of a photograph of two forming stars in the Vela constellation, turned out to be far more significant than initially thought. Now, an international team of astronomers has unraveled its secret: the question mark is the result of two galaxies colliding and interacting with each other.
The reddish hue of the object indicated that it was incredibly distant—7 billion light-years away, to be exact. Early hypotheses suggested a galactic merger, and recent imaging confirmed this. The question mark shape is a visual result of two galaxies caught in a cosmic dance, spiraling toward one another. The “hook” of the question mark is formed by a dusty red galaxy, while a white, spiral-shaped galaxy lies at the bottom of the arc. Intriguingly, the “dot” below the mark is actually a third galaxy, entirely unrelated but positioned perfectly from JWST’s vantage point.
The interaction between these two galaxies is still in its infancy, with little distortion visible in their structure. Scientists speculate that their gas reservoirs are beginning to collide, possibly igniting new star-forming regions. What makes this cosmic encounter even more extraordinary is that the image was distorted by gravitational lensing—a phenomenon where a massive foreground galaxy cluster bends and amplifies light from distant objects. This effect, in this case caused by the galaxy cluster MACS-J0417.5-1154, warped the image of the red galaxy and created a rare “multi-mirror” effect, where the same galaxy was captured five times in the same frame.
Such precise gravitational lensing is a rare cosmic coincidence, making this discovery all the more exciting for astronomers. This galactic duo is a glimpse into the Universe’s early days, with masses comparable to that of our Milky Way during its younger years. Through JWST’s unparalleled imaging, we can peer back in time and witness the processes that shaped galaxies billions of years ago.
This discovery not only helps unravel the puzzle of the Universe’s past but also illuminates our own galactic history. By studying this cosmic question mark, scientists are unlocking the teenage years of galaxies, providing invaluable insight into how they evolve over time. In many ways, JWST is helping us look at our own Milky Way’s formative years, one cosmic snapshot at a time.
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