James Webb Space Telescope has delivered stunning views of the "gravitationally distorted realms" of the El Gordo galaxy cluster, according to Space.com.
Credits
Image:
NASA, ESA, CSA
Science:
Jose M. Diego (IFCA), Brenda Frye (University of Arizona), Patrick Kamieneski (ASU), Tim Carleton (ASU), Rogier Windhorst (ASU)
Image Processing:
Alyssa Pagan (STScI), Jake Summers (ASU), Jordan C. J. D'Silva (UWA), Anton M. Koekemoer (STScI), Aaron Robotham (UWA), Rogier Windhorst (ASU)
Video:
Danielle Kirshenblat (STScI)
Credits
Image:
NASA, ESA, CSA
Science:
Jose M. Diego (IFCA), Brenda Frye (University of Arizona), Patrick Kamieneski (ASU), Tim Carleton (ASU), Rogier Windhorst (ASU)
Image Processing:
Alyssa Pagan (STScI), Jake Summers (ASU), Jordan C. J. D'Silva (UWA), Anton M. Koekemoer (STScI), Aaron Robotham (UWA), Rogier Windhorst (ASU)
Video:
Danielle Kirshenblat (STScI)
Category
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TechTranscript
00:00This infrared image, taken by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, depicts El Gordo,
00:06a cluster of hundreds of galaxies that existed when the universe was 6.2 billion years old.
00:11This view displays a clear assortment of unusual, distorted background galaxies
00:16that were suggested in previous Hubble images of the area.
00:23The El Gordo galaxy cluster is a classic example of gravitational lensing,
00:27where the cluster's gravity bends and distorts light from faraway objects behind it.
00:33Due to El Gordo's lensing, distant galaxies become brighter and appear larger,
00:38allowing us to see parts of the universe that would otherwise be too faint to observe.
00:43This lensing effect can also cause galaxies to appear duplicated or mirrored.
00:48One of the most prominent features is the bright red arc. Nicknamed El Anzuelo,
00:53or the fishhook, the light from this galaxy traveled for 10.6 billion years to reach Earth.
01:01Its unique red color is the result of dust from within the galaxy itself,
01:05as well as cosmological redshift, which refers to the redder hues from light waves
01:10that are stretched out due to their extreme increasing distance from us.
01:15The long pencil-thin line is known as La Flaca, or the thin one. It is another lensed background
01:21galaxy whose light also took nearly 11 billion years to reach Earth.
01:27Not far from La Flaca is another lensed galaxy,
01:30containing an image of a single red giant star nicknamed Coyier.
01:34It's nearly impossible to see lensed red giant stars without the infrared technology
01:39and sensitivity of Webb. Coyier is the first individual red giant star observed at a
01:44staggering distance of over 10 billion light-years from Earth, and is the first of its kind spotted
01:49by Webb. With this new image of El Gordo, a gateway to groundbreaking scientific discoveries
01:56is unveiled, promising a wealth of new knowledge and insights into the
01:59captivating mysteries of our ever-expanding universe.