The future of the galaxy that contains Earth, marked by an event powerful enough to send our planet flying away, might be reflected in the mesmerizing images just captured by the James Webb Space Telescope, where death and life intersect within the universe.
The James Webb Space Telescope, operated by NASA with support from the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), has revealed the most detailed images yet of a violent galaxy collision.
According to Space, the two galaxies in the image have connected to form a new galaxy collectively named IC 1623, though they have not fully merged yet. This collision has previously been recorded in a preliminary manner by other telescopes like Hubble, but its true secrets have only been unveiled through the “eye” of James Webb.
The merged galaxy IC 1263 is located 270 million light-years away in the constellation Cetus, clearly revealed through the “eye” of James Webb – (Image: NASA/ESA/CSA)
With its ability to observe through layers of dust and gas, James Webb has uncovered a brilliant, glowing center of the merged galaxy, where scorching infrared light continuously pours out.
This glowing pattern had been studied previously and affirms a vigorous star formation process that has just been initiated.
Galaxy collisions and mergers can destroy numerous stars and planets, but the new images show that they also rejuvenate the pair of galaxies, triggering a robust star formation rate up to 20 times that of the Milky Way galaxy, which contains Earth.
To explore this phenomenon, James Webb had to employ 3 out of its 4 advanced observational tools, namely the MIRI camera, NIRCam, and NIRSpec spectrometer, developed in collaboration between NASA and ESA.
The research on this merger has recently been published in the scientific journal Astrophysical Journal.
Galaxy collisions occur quite frequently in the universe and represent a deadly event that even Earth cannot escape from its “fate.”
In previous decades, it was believed that Earth would face extinction when the Sun dies—approximately 5 billion years from now—but scientific evidence has shown that the “doomsday” could arrive much sooner, in just 2 billion years, when the galaxy containing Earth collides with the massive Andromeda galaxy, which is currently barreling toward us at a terrifying speed.
The Milky Way, referred to as a “monster,” has peacefully swallowed around 16 smaller galaxies, according to studies, but the collision with Andromeda will be as monumental as it will be catastrophic, likely throwing Earth out of the “habitable zone” of the Solar System.
This future could be illustrated in the recently released images from James Webb.
While this event could lead to the extinction of our planet and many other life-bearing planets within the Milky Way, it will not make the universe deadlier overall, as the vigorous star formation will accompany the emergence of future planets around the “graveyard” of the collision.
