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\t\t\t\t\t\t12\/07\/2024<\/span> A duo of interacting galaxies known as Arp 142 commemorates the second science anniversary of the NASA\/ESA\/CSA James Webb Space Telescope.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Their ongoing interaction was set in motion between 25 and 75 million years ago, when the Penguin (individually catalogued as NGC 2936) and the Egg (NGC 2937) completed their first pass. They will go on to shimmy and sway, completing several additional loops before merging into a single galaxy hundreds of millions of years from now.<\/p>\n The James Webb Space Telescope takes constant observations, including\u00a0images\u00a0and highly detailed data known as\u00a0spectra. Its operations have led to a \u2018parade\u2019 of discoveries by astronomers around the world. It has never felt more possible to explore every facet of the Universe.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n The telescope\u2019s specialisation in capturing\u00a0infrared light\u00a0\u2013 which is beyond what our own eyes can detect \u2013 shows these galaxies, collectively known as Arp 142, locked in a slow cosmic dance. Webb\u2019s observations (which combine near- and mid-infrared light from Webb\u2019s\u00a0NIRCam\u00a0[Near-InfraRed Camera] and\u00a0MIRI\u00a0[Mid-Infrared Instrument], respectively) clearly show that they are joined by a blue haze that is a mix of stars and gas, a result of their mingling.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Before their first approach, the Penguin held the shape of a spiral. Today, its galactic centre gleams like an eye, its unwound arms now shaping a beak, head, backbone, and fanned-out tail.<\/p>\n Like all spiral galaxies, the Penguin is still very rich in gas and dust. The galaxies\u2019 \u2018dance\u2019 pulled gravitationally on the Penguin\u2019s thinner areas of gas and dust, causing them to crash in waves and form stars. Look for those areas in two places: what looks like a fish in its \u2018beak\u2019 and the \u2018feathers\u2019 in its \u2018tail\u2019.<\/p>\n Surrounding these newer stars is smoke-like material that includes carbon-containing molecules, known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which Webb is exceptional at detecting. Dust, seen as fainter, deeper orange arcs also swoops from its beak to tail feathers.<\/p>\n In contrast, the Egg\u2019s compact shape remains largely unchanged. As an elliptical galaxy, it is filled with ageing stars, and has a lot less gas and dust that can be pulled away to form new stars. If both were spiral galaxies, each would end the first \u2018twist\u2019 with new star formation and twirling curls, known as tidal tails.<\/p>\n Another reason for the Egg\u2019s undisturbed appearance is that these galaxies have approximately the same mass, which is why the smaller-looking elliptical wasn\u2019t consumed or distorted by the Penguin.<\/p>\n It is estimated that the Penguin and the Egg are about 100 000 light-years apart\u00a0\u2013 quite close in astronomical terms. For context, the Milky Way galaxy and our nearest neighbour, the Andromeda Galaxy, are about 2.5 million light-years apart, about 30 times the distance. They too will interact, but not for about 4 billion years.<\/p>\n In the top right of the image is an edge-on galaxy, catalogued PGC 1237172, which resides 100 million light-years closer to Earth. It\u2019s also quite young, teeming with new, blue stars. In Webb\u2019s mid-infrared-only image, PGC 1237172 practically disappears. Mid-infrared light largely captures cooler, older stars and an incredible amount of dust. Since the galaxy\u2019s stellar population is so young, it \u2018vanishes\u2019 in mid-infrared light.<\/p>\n Webb\u2019s image is also overflowing with distant galaxies. Some have spiral and oval shapes, like those threaded throughout the Penguin\u2019s \u2018tail feathers\u2019, while others scattered throughout are shapeless dots. This is a testament to the sensitivity and resolution of the telescope\u2019s infrared instruments. (Compare Webb\u2019s view to the 2013 image from the NASA\/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.) Even though these observations only took a few hours, Webb revealed far more distant, redder, and dustier galaxies than previous telescopes\u00a0\u2013 one more reason to expect Webb to continue to expand our understanding of everything in the Universe.<\/p>\n Arp 142 lies 326 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Hydra.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Over its second year of operations Webb has advanced its science goals with new discoveries about other worlds, the lifecycle of stars, the early Universe and galaxies over time. Astronomers have learned about\u00a0what conditions rocky planets can form in\u00a0and detected\u00a0icy ingredients for worlds, found\u00a0tellurium created in star mergers\u00a0and studied the supernova remnants\u00a0SN 1987A\u00a0and the\u00a0Crab Nebula.<\/p>\n Looking into the distant past, Webb has solved the mysteries of\u00a0how the Universe was reionised\u00a0and\u00a0hydrogen emission from galaxy mergers, and seen the most distant\u00a0black hole merger\u00a0and\u00a0galaxy\u00a0ever observed. Observations with Webb have also confirmed the long-standing\u00a0tension between measurements of the Hubble constant, deepening a different mystery around the Universe\u2019s expansion rate.<\/p>\n Webb has continued to produce incredible images of the cosmos, from the detailed beauty of the\u00a0Ring Nebula, to\u00a0supernova remnant Cassiopeia A, to a team effort with the the NASA\/ESA\u00a0Hubble Space Telescope\u00a0and\u00a0ESA\u2019s Euclid\u00a0telescope looking at\u00a0the iconic Horsehead Nebula. Webb imagery was also combined with visible light observations from Hubble to create one of the most comprehensive views of the Universe ever, an image of\u00a0galaxy cluster MACS 0416.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n More information<\/b><\/p>\n Webb\u00a0is the largest, most powerful telescope ever launched into space. Under an international collaboration agreement, ESA provided the telescope\u2019s launch service, using the Ariane 5 launch vehicle. Working with partners, ESA was responsible for the development and qualification of Ariane 5 adaptations for the Webb mission and for the procurement of the launch service by Arianespace. ESA also provided the workhorse spectrograph\u00a0NIRSpec\u00a0and 50% of the mid-infrared instrument\u00a0MIRI, which was designed and built by a consortium of nationally funded European Institutes (The MIRI European Consortium) in partnership with JPL and the University of Arizona.<\/p>\n Webb is an international partnership between NASA, ESA and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).<\/p>\n Release on esawebb.org<\/p>\n \nContact:<\/b>
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nLet\u2019s dance<\/h2>\n
Second year of science operations: in review<\/h2>\n
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