NASA and the European Space Agency said on Tuesday that the Webb Space Telescope had seen through time and a trove of dust to capture new images of the Cartwheel Galaxy, a colorful, spinning outer ring with unprecedented clarity. Located in the constellation Sculpture some 500 million light-years from Earth, the Wheel Galaxy was formed when two galaxies collided spectacularly.
The two rings of the Wheel Galaxy expand from the center, “like throwing stones at a pond, spreading out in ripples.” The smaller white ring is still close to the center of the Wheel galaxy, and the colorful outer ring has expanded into the universe for about 444 million years. The outer ring encounters gas as it expands, prompting new star formation. Behind the Wheel Galaxy, two smaller galaxies shine brightly, and more galaxies can be seen behind them. The Wheel Galaxy is still in a “phase of rapid change”.
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