These sinister eyes peering from the depths of space star in a new Halloween-themed image, using data from the Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope. It shows a pair of galaxies, IC 2163 on the left and NGC 2207 on the right, approaching each other and interacting to form an eerie-looking face.
The two galaxies are not directly colliding with each other, as one passes in front of the other, but they have passed close enough that the light brushes against each other and leaves indications. If you look closely at the galaxy on the left, you can see how its spiral arms have lengthened, probably due to its close passage to the gravity of the other nearby galaxy. The bright red lines around the “eyes” are created by shock fronts, with materials from each galaxy colliding with each other.
However, as destructive as all this may seem, it also helps drive star formation. This is because the power of gravitational forces that attract dust and fuel in each galaxy can create compressed regions, where the higher density makes it more likely for clusters to form, which can eventually become stars. This creates young, bright stars that shine brightly in both galaxies.
“Both galaxies have high rates of star formation, like countless individual hearts fluttering down their arms,” the Webb scientists say. explain. “Every year, galaxies produce the equivalent of two dozen new Sun-sized stars. Our Milky Way only forms the equivalent of two or three new Sun-sized stars per year. Both galaxies have also hosted seven known supernovae in recent decades, a high number compared to an promedio of one every 50 years in the Milky Way. “Each supernova may have cleared space in the arms of galaxies, rearranging fuel and dust that then cooled and allowed many new stars to form.”
You can see areas of star formation by looking for regions that glow blue (from Hubble data) and pink and white (from Webb data). The two telescopes generate different looking images that you can see side by side. herebecause they operate at different wavelengths. Hubble looks in the visible spectrum of light, similar to what the human eye sees, while Webb looks in the infrared region, seeing things that would be invisible to us and highlighting busy “starburst” areas where many new stars are forming. .
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