WEBB spies a spiral through a cosmic lens
[NASA/ESA CSA[/b][/url] | | 2025 March 27
[NASA/ESA CSA[/b][/url] | | 2025 March 27
JWST4Y Jac
This new image from the James Webb Space Telescope shows a very rare form of what's known as an Einstein ring. What at first glance appears to be a single, oddly shaped galaxy is actually two distant galaxies. The nearer foreground galaxy is located at the center of the image, while the more distant background galaxy appears to be wrapped around the nearer galaxy in a ring-like fashion (https://esawebb.org/wordbank/gravitational-lensing/).
The lensed galaxy at the center of this Einstein ring is an elliptical galaxy, as indicated by its bright nucleus and smooth, featureless body. This galaxy belongs to a galaxy cluster called SMACSJ0028.2-7537 near the SMC. The lensed galaxy surrounding the elliptical galaxy is a spiral galaxy. Although its image was distorted as its light circled the galaxy on its way, individual star clusters and gas structures (https://esawebb.org/images/potm2503a/zoomable/) are clearly visible. The Webb data used in this image were acquired as part of the SLICE survey (https://www.stsci.edu/jwst/science-exec ... on?id=5594 & https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.17498) as one of 182 galaxy clusters studied. This image is a "WEBBLE" and also includes data from two instruments on the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.
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Statistics: Posted by AVAO — Sat Mar 29, 2025 7:38 am — Replies 23 — Views 53342