Strangest finding yet by James Webb Space Telescope raises big question
Everyone has pondered about the universe at one time or another. Is anyone else out there? How big is it? And if it’s always expanding, what is it expanding into?
Humans may not be the only ones with questions however, as it seems the universe itself has at least one.
Buried deep in a typically stunning image taken by the James Webb Space Telescope is a cosmic question mark – literally.
The curious feature, seen in an image of the Vela Constellation that lies 1,470 light-years from Earth, has stunned astronomers analysing the findings.
Orange in colour and cartoonish in shape, it may have prompted them to double-check the date when first spotting it, but April 1 had long since passed by the time the image was taken.
What it is exactly has yet to be determined, but a possible explanation is the merging of two galaxies.
‘The two distinct features could easily be merging galaxies in the background, with the upper part of the question mark being part of a larger galaxy getting tidally disrupted,’ said Dr Matt Caplan, an assistant professor of physics at Illinois State University, speaking to space.com.
‘Given the color of some of the other background galaxies, this doesn’t seem like the worst explanation. Despite how chaotic mergers are, double lobed objects with curvy tails extending away from them are very typical.’
However, Dr Caplan discounted the possibility of it being star-related owing to the lack of multi-pronged refraction spikes that create the appearance of ‘twinkling’ stars in images taken by the JWST.
Whatever it is, no mystery of the universe has ever looked more apt.
MORE : Stunning image of stars being born helps Nasa celebrate a year of JWST
MORE : Spectacular JWST photos capture Saturn as never seen before