A captivating new image. This Tuesday, NASA released a new photograph captured by the James Webb Telescope. This is a snapshot of the Cartwheel galaxy, named for its shape and located 500 million light-years from Earth.
This galaxy, which contains a black hole, is not a discovery for scientists, as it was discovered in the 1940s and had been photographed by the Hubble telescope. NASA and the European Space Agency explained in a joint press release that it had acquired this shape after the collision of two galaxies.
A look at the past and the future
Thanks to the new telescope, scientists have access to a much more detailed view of the composition of the stars in the galaxy, as well as a better understanding of the black hole. Astronomers can now say that the galaxy is rich in hydrocarbons.
“While Webb gives us a snapshot of Cartwheel’s current state, it also gives us clues about what has happened to the galaxy in the past and how it will evolve in the future,” NASA’s press release reads.
Source: BFM TV
