For weeks we have followed and admired Hubble’s great and tireless work, but we cannot forget the enormous contribution that the James Webb Space Telescope also makes. On the other hand, with its powerful and very modern tools it is able to give us images never seen before. This time she captured a beautiful galaxy.
The splendid photo, which you can admire at the end of the article, in fact represents NGC 7469a very bright one spiral galaxy about 90,000 light-years in diameterlocated about 220 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Pegasus, one of 88 modern constellations.
MoreoverNGC 7469 is known for host an active galactic nucleus (AGN), i.e. an extremely luminous central region, dominated by the light emitted by dust and gas as it is engulfed by its central black hole. For astronomers, therefore, this galaxy offers a unique opportunity to study the relationship between AGN and the activity of starbursts (an astrophysical process involving star formation).
At this juncture the powerful means of James Webb come into play. In fact using the tools MIRI, NIRCam and NIRspecastronomers are able to obtain images and spectra of NGC 7469 with unprecedented detailbeing able to study these galactic phenomena like never before.
What makes the photo more particular is the star in its center. Notice how its light aligns perfectly with the heart of NGC 7469 generating, with its 6 points, an almost unreal effect. And in part it is. Unlike the galaxy, in fact, it is not a real celestial object, but an imaging artifact known as “diffraction peak”caused precisely by the bright active galactic nucleus (AGN) and its light “bending” around the edges of the telescope.
This spiral galaxy is also known to have recently been studied as part of the Great Observatories All-sky LIRGs Survey (GOALS), which has as its objective the study of physics of star formation and the growth of black holes.
All that remains is to admire the splendid image which, as always, you can observe at its maximum resolution by visiting the official website of theEuropean Space Agency. If, on the other hand, you are curious to learn more about the subject, we have dedicated a specific section of our site to the James Webb Space Telescope, where you can also find images of the oldest galaxies.
Image credits: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, L. Armus, AS Evans
