File:Cosmic seahorse (potm2303a).jpg
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[edit]DescriptionCosmic seahorse (potm2303a).jpg |
English: Streaks of light and bright arcs betray the presence of a vast gravitational lens in this image from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope. A galaxy cluster in the foreground has magnified distant galaxies, warping their shapes and creating the bright smears of light spread throughout this image. This effect, referred to by astronomers as gravitational lensing, occurs when a massive celestial object such as a galaxy cluster causes a sufficient curvature of spacetime for light to be visibly bent around it, as if by a gargantuan lens.One of the consequential effects of gravitational lensing is that it can magnify distant astronomical objects, letting astronomers study objects that would otherwise be too faint or far away. This useful quirk of gravitational lensing has also been used to reveal some of the most distant galaxies humanity has ever encountered. The long, bright, and distorted arc spreading out near the core is one such example. A distant galaxy known as the Cosmic Seahorse, its brightness is greatly magnified by the gravitational lens, which has enabled astronomers to study star formation there.This image was captured by NIRCam, Webb’s primary near-infrared camera, and contains the lensing galaxy cluster SDSS J1226+2149. It lies at a distance of around 6.3 billion light-years from Earth, in the constellation Coma Berenices. By combining Webb’s sensitivity with the magnifying effect of gravitational lensing, astronomers were able to use this gravitational lens to explore the earliest stages of star formation in distant galaxies. To do so, they relied on earlier studies by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, which provided the ‘prescription’ for this gravitational lens. This image shows only one observation from a programme designed to probe star formation in distant galaxies. As well as revealing how quickly stars form and characterising the environments in these galaxies that gave rise to new stars, these observations will demonstrate the capabilities of Webb and provide richly detailed datasets to the astronomical community. Astronomers expect Webb’s crystal-clear vision and cutting-edge instruments to provide new insights into star formation in distant, gravitationally lensed galaxies.[Image description: Many small galaxies are scattered on a black background: mainly, white, oval-shaped and red, spiral galaxies. To the lower right is a galaxy cluster, with a very large and bright elliptical galaxy at its centre. Thin, reddish, stretched-out arcs surround it. One arc is thick and much brighter. Another red galaxy is large and warped, just next to the cluster core.] |
Date | 28 March 2023 (upload date) |
Source | Cosmic seahorse |
Author | ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, J. Rigby |
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[edit]ESA/Webb images, videos and web texts are released by the ESA under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license and may on a non-exclusive basis be reproduced without fee provided they are clearly and visibly credited. Detailed conditions are below; see the ESA copyright statement for full information. For images created by NASA or on the webbtelescope.org website, use the {{PD-Webb}} tag.
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This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.
Attribution: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, J. Rigby
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current | 00:33, 29 March 2023 | 4,410 × 2,756 (1.7 MB) | OptimusPrimeBot (talk | contribs) | #Spacemedia - Upload of https://cdn.esawebb.org/archives/images/large/potm2303a.jpg via Commons:Spacemedia |
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Source | ESA/Webb |
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Credit/Provider | ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, J. Rigby |
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Date and time of data generation | 06:00, 28 March 2023 |
Software used | Adobe Photoshop 24.2 (Windows) |
File change date and time | 01:32, 17 March 2023 |
Date and time of digitizing | 12:14, 8 February 2023 |
Date metadata was last modified | 02:32, 17 March 2023 |
Unique ID of original document | xmp.did:d83dcee4-347c-b84c-8701-92fa9c2de3fc |
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Contact information |
ESA Office, Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Dr Baltimore, MD, 21218 United States |
IIM version | 4 |