A mysterious red question mark has been “sent” from the universe to Earth through a peculiar image recently captured by the James Webb Space Telescope.
This is a giant object shaped like a question mark, playfully positioned just below two young stars in the constellation Puppis, according to a recent announcement from the James Webb Telescope team at the European Space Agency (ESA).
The James Webb is the world’s most powerful space telescope, primarily developed and operated by NASA. ESA and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) are also involved in this mega project, in a joint effort to explore the early universe and the potential habitability of nearby worlds.
Graphic representation of the mysterious object and the actual image (small) showing it from another angle as a red-orange question mark suspended in space – (Photo: NASA/ESA/CSA/SICcl).
Initially, the ESA’s James Webb team was observing the detailed young star pair known as Herbig-Haro 46/47, which is surrounded by a disk of material gradually feeding them over millions of years.
However, just below the star pair, they discovered something enigmatic: a question mark appeared against the sky, which scientists describe as the universe seemingly asking us something.
It is still impossible to determine what this question-mark-shaped object is, but its color and shape have led scientists to propose several hypotheses.
In an interview with Space, a representative from the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScl – USA), which primarily manages the operations of the James Webb, suggested it could be a distant galaxy or interacting galaxies, leading to distortion.
The object is red, indicating that it is quite far away, as distant objects that continue to recede due to the expansion of the universe will appear red due to the redshift phenomenon.
Even though it appears right next to objects that are 1,470 light-years away, the actual distance of the question mark could be billions of years.
Meanwhile, Associate Professor Matt Caplan, a physicist from Illinois State University, believes this question mark represents two merging galaxies, with the hook formed by a giant galaxy that has been disrupted.
