In the constellation Serpens, a brilliant object has been captured by the James Webb Space Telescope, allowing us on Earth to witness “a glimpse of the future.”
James Webb, the most powerful space telescope in the world developed and operated primarily by NASA, has provided an unprecedented sharp view of Arp 220, a merging galaxy pair located 250 million light-years away from us.
According to Space, Arp 220 currently resembles a spiral galaxy like our Earth’s Milky Way, featuring swirling tails in its outer regions. It began its merging dance 700 million years ago and may continue for a long time thereafter.
Merging galaxy Arp 220 – (Image: NASA/ESA/CSA).
As the galaxies of Arp 220 began to merge, a wealth of gas and dust triggered a vigorous star formation process, primarily concentrated in their dust-laden centers.
“The amount of gas in this tiny area is equivalent to all the gas in the entire Milky Way” – the James Webb team described.
Over 200 star clusters have been packed into this small area of just 5,000 light-years, causing the central star formation ring to glow brightly, emitting a halo like a six-pointed star with each point being a sharp, luminous ray.
However, this massive star formation process abruptly ceased around 100 million years ago, leading the galaxy into a post-starburst phase.
Arp 220 was previously discovered by the Hubble Space Telescope, NASA’s over 30-year-old observatory, initially observed in 2022, and later supplemented by observations from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory.
However, for the first time, it has been clearly seen with the “eye” of James Webb.
This also serves as a window in time for us on Earth to look into our future. The Milky Way, a “monster” among galaxies, is set to undergo a galaxy merger in the next 2 billion years and again in 4-5 billion years. The first merger will be with a dwarf galaxy, but the next will be with a “monster” of equal stature – Andromeda, i.e., the Andromeda galaxy.
The merger between the two colossal galaxies, the Milky Way and Andromeda, will take approximately 10 billion years and is sure to lead to the birth of many new stars. However, it could also signal the end for Earth, as researchers predict that the collision may displace our planet from the “habitable zone” of the Solar System.
