Image via NASA, ESA, CSA
Space and all of its mysteries can sometimes leave a proverbial question mark looming over your head. Or, in the case of a recent image captured by NASA’s James Webb telescope, an actual question mark caught in the heavens.
The celestial punctuation was seen hiding in a larger image of the Herbig-Haro 46/47 that made a few waves among enthusiasts last week. The initial picture showed two tightly bound pairs of actively forming stars nestled 1,470 light years from Earth.
Image via NASA, ESA, CSA
The rendering was a beautiful depiction of the creation of celestial bodies as an ethereal glow of cosmic dust that is feeding the stars as they grow.
However, lurking just below was another peculiar find that had scientists wondering if the universe was sending a message (or a question).
Although its true nature might still be a literal and figurative question mark, its size and color have alluded researchers to possibly have an idea of what it might be. According to Space.com, the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, which manages the JWST’s science operations, noted that it is probably a distant galaxy or interacting galaxies. Gravitational forces in such events could have been what is causing this distortion to appear like a punctuation on the image.
Image via NASA, ESA, CSA
Another theory by assistant professor of physics at Illinois State University, Matt Caplan, is that it could be two galaxies on the brink of merging.
This also stands as the first time scientists are setting sights on these celestial object(s) which rest far from the Milky Way.
Whatever the true answer is, the enigmatic sighting does resemble a physical manifestation of all the questions those on Earth still hold about the universe.
[via Space.com and Gizmodo, images via NASA, ESA, CSA]
by rrollins
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