The image reveals a wealth of details that are only possible to capture by combining the power of both space telescopes. It includes a bounty of galaxies outside the cluster and a sprinkling of sources that vary over time, likely due to gravitational lensing<\/a> \u2013 the distortion and amplification of light from distant background sources.<\/p>\n This cluster was the first of a set of unprecedented, super-deep views of the universe from an ambitious, collaborative Hubble program called the Frontier Fields<\/a>, inaugurated in 2014. Hubble pioneered the search for some of the intrinsically faintest and youngest galaxies ever detected. Webb\u2019s infrared view significantly bolsters this deep look by going even farther into the early universe with its infrared vision.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are building on Hubble\u2019s legacy by pushing to greater distances and fainter objects,\u201d said Rogier Windhorst of Arizona State University, principal investigator of the PEARLS program (Prime Extragalactic Areas for Reionization and Lensing Science), which took the Webb observations.<\/p>\n To make the image, in general the shortest wavelengths of light were color-coded blue, the longest wavelengths red, and intermediate wavelengths green. The broad range of wavelengths, from 0.4 to 5 microns, yields a particularly vivid landscape of galaxies.<\/p>\n Those colors give clues to galaxy distances: The bluest galaxies are relatively nearby and often show intense star formation, as best detected by Hubble, while the redder galaxies tend to be more distant as detected by Webb. Some galaxies also appear very red because they contain copious amounts of cosmic dust that tends to absorb bluer colors of starlight.<\/p>\n \u201cThe whole picture doesn\u2019t become clear until you combine Webb data with Hubble data,\u201d said Windhorst.<\/p>\n While the new Webb observations contribute to this aesthetic view, they were taken for a specific scientific purpose. The research team combined their three epochs of observations, each taken weeks apart, with a fourth epoch from the CANUCS (CAnadian NIRISS Unbiased Cluster Survey) research team. The goal was to search for objects varying in observed brightness over time, known as transients.<\/p>\n They identified 14 such transients across the field of view. Twelve of those transients were located in three galaxies that are highly magnified by gravitational lensing, and are likely to be individual stars or multiple-star systems that are briefly very highly magnified. The remaining two transients are within more moderately magnified background galaxies and are likely to be supernovae.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re calling MACS0416 the Christmas Tree Galaxy Cluster, both because it\u2019s so colorful and because of these flickering lights we find within it. We can see transients everywhere,\u201d said Haojing Yan of the University of Missouri in Columbia, lead author of one paper describing the scientific results.<\/p>\n Finding so many transients with observations spanning a relatively short time frame suggests that astronomers could find many additional transients in this cluster and others like it through regular monitoring with Webb.<\/p>\n Among the transients the team identified, one stood out in particular. Located in a galaxy that existed about 3 billion years after the big bang, it is magnified by a factor of at least 4,000. The team nicknamed the star system \u201cMothra\u201d in a nod to its \u201cmonster nature,\u201d being both extremely bright and extremely magnified. It joins another lensed star the researchers previously identified that they nicknamed \u201cGodzilla.\u201d (Both Godzilla and Mothra are giant monsters known as kaiju in Japanese cinema.)<\/p>\n Interestingly, Mothra is also visible in the Hubble observations that were taken nine years previously. This is unusual, because a very specific alignment between the foreground galaxy cluster and the background star is needed to magnify a star so greatly. The mutual motions of the star and the cluster should have eventually eliminated that alignment.<\/p>\n The most likely explanation is that there is an additional object within the foreground cluster that is adding more magnification. The team was able to constrain its mass to be between 10,000 and 1 million times the mass of our Sun. The exact nature of this so-called \u201cmilli-lens,\u201d however, remains unknown.<\/p>\n \u201cThe most likely explanation is a globular star cluster that\u2019s too faint for Webb to see directly,\u201d stated Jose Diego of the Instituto de F\u00edsica de Cantabria in Spain, lead author of the paper detailing the finding. \u201cBut we don\u2019t know the true nature of this additional lens yet.\u201d<\/p>\n The Yan et al. paper<\/a> is accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal. The Diego et al. paper<\/a> has been published in Astronomy & Astrophysics.<\/p>\n The Webb data shown here was obtained as part of PEARLS GTO program 1176<\/a>.<\/p>\n The James Webb Space Telescope<\/strong> is the world\u2019s premier space science observatory. Webb is solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and the Canadian Space Agency.<\/em><\/p>\n The Hubble Space Telescope<\/strong> is a project of international cooperation between NASA and ESA. NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Maryland, conducts Hubble and Webb science operations. STScI is operated for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, in Washington, D.C.<\/em><\/p>\n Laura\u00a0Betz<\/strong> \u2013 laura.e.betz@nasa.gov<\/a>, Claire Andreoli<\/strong> \u2013 claire.andreoli@nasa.gov<\/a> Hannah Braun <\/strong>\u2013 hbraun@stsci.edu<\/a> , Christine Pulliam<\/strong> \u2013 cpulliam@stsci.edi<\/a> Download full resolution images for this article<\/a><\/strong> from the Space Telescope Science Institute.<\/p>\n Research Results: the Yan et al. paper<\/a><\/strong> is accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal. <\/p>\n Research Results: the Diego et al. paper<\/a><\/strong> has been published in Astronomy & Astrophysics.<\/p>\n\n Galaxies Basics \u2013 <\/a><\/strong>https:\/\/universe.nasa.gov\/galaxies\/basics\/<\/p>\n Galaxies Evolution \u2013 <\/a><\/strong>https:\/\/universe.nasa.gov\/galaxies\/evolution\/<\/p>\n\n <\/strong><\/p>\n Webb Mission Page<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/mission\/webb\/<\/p>\n Webb News<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/mission\/webb\/latestnews\/<\/p>\n Webb Images<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/mission\/webb\/multimedia\/images\/<\/p>\n\n Hubble Mission Page<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/mission\/hubble<\/p>\n Hubble News \u2013 <\/strong><\/a> https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/mission\/hubble\/hubble-news\/<\/p>\n Hubble Images \u2013 <\/a><\/strong>https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/mission\/hubble\/multimedia\/hubble-images\/<\/p>\n\n Ciencia de la NASA<\/a><\/p>\n NASA en espa\u00f1ol\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n Space Place\u00a0para ni\u00f1os<\/a><\/p>\n Webb is the premier observatory of the next decade, serving thousands of astronomers worldwide. It studies every phase in the\u2026<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \t\t\t<\/a> This placeholder has been created to be used in the Topic Cards block. PLEASE DO NOT DELETE IT. This post\u2019s\u2026<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\nWhat the Colors Mean<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Image: Side-by-side Hubble\/Webb <\/h2>\n
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Christmas Tree Galaxy Cluster<\/strong><\/h2>\n
A Kaiju Star<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Image: Gravitationally Lensed Galaxy<\/h2>\n
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Media Contacts<\/h2>\n
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NASA\u2019s \u00a0Goddard Space Flight Center<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0<\/em>, Greenbelt, Md.<\/p>\n\n
Space Telescope Science Institute<\/a>, Baltimore, Md.<\/p>\n\nDownloads<\/h2>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHubble Space Telescope<\/span><\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
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