The seven galaxies spotlighted (on the right) in this James Webb telescope image form a proto-cluster so far away, its light took about 13 billion years to reach us. Scientists predict it may grow into one of the largest, densest galaxy clusters known today.

Webb’s NIRSpec instrument was able to confirm the seven galaxies’ distance and even measure their velocities, confirming that they are moving within a halo of dark matter at more than 2 million miles per hour. The precise data also allowed astronomers to model and map the protocluster’s future development.

Why do we care about galaxy clusters? Their massive gravitational pull warps time and space, distorting but also brightening objects behind them. This makes them great “magnifying glasses” for distant, background galaxies. In fact, we found this protocluster with the help of Pandora’s Cluster, another galaxy cluster!

Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, T. Morishita (IPAC), with image processing by A. Pagan (STScI)

An infrared Galaxy brighter than a trillion suns!

We love this with the fire of a trillion suns , the extremely brightest galaxy. Shown here is Arp 220, an ultra-luminous infrared galaxy (ULIRG) with a luminosity literally greater than that of a trillion suns. (It emits 300 times more light than the Milky Way!) Arp 220 glows brightest in infrared light, Webb’s specialty.

An infrared Galaxy brighter than a trillion suns, Shining like a brilliant beacon amidst a sea of galaxies, Arp 220 lights up the night sky in this view from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. Actually two spiral galaxies in the process of merging, Arp 220 glows brightest in infrared light, making it an ideal target for Webb. It is an ultra-luminous infrared galaxy (ULIRG) with a luminosity of more than a trillion suns. In comparison, our Milky Way galaxy has a much more modest luminosity of about ten billion suns

This object is the result of a collision between 2 spiral galaxies that began about 700 million years ago, sparking a huge burst of star formation. The light from this star formation is shrouded in dust, which Webb can see through with its infrared vision. Located 250 million light-years away, Arp 220 is both the nearest ULIRG and the brightest of the 3 galactic mergers closest to us. It is in the constellation of Serpens, the Serpent, Arp 220 is the 220th object in Halton Arp’s Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies. It is the nearest ULIRG and the brightest of the three galactic mergers closest to Earth.

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope previously uncovered that the cores of the colliding galaxies are only about 1,200 light-years apart. Webb’s new view reveals material being drawn off the galaxies by gravity, shown in blue, as well as streams and filaments of coral-colored organic material.

Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI with image processing by Alyssa Pagan (STScI)

New Hubble image of the galaxy NGC 5283!

To wrap up BlackHoleWeek, here’s a parting gift – a new Hubble image of the galaxy NGC 5283!
Matter falling into a supermassive black hole creates the bright glow at the galaxy’s heart. When dust and gas fall into the black hole, the matter heats up and emits light across the electromagnetic spectrum.

The lenticular galaxy NGC 5283 is the subject of this NASA Hubble Space Telescope image. NGC 5283 contains an active galactic nucleus, or AGN. An AGN is an extremely bright region at the heart of a galaxy where a supermassive black hole exists. When dust and gas fall into the black hole, the matter heats up and emits light across the electromagnetic spectrum.

NGC 5283 is a Seyfert galaxy. About 10 percent of all galaxies are Seyfert galaxies, and they differ from other galaxies that contain AGNs because the galaxy itself is clearly visible. Other AGNs emit so much radiation that they outshine or make it impossible to observe the structure of their host galaxy!
Image credit: NASA, ESA, A. Barth (University of California – Irvine), and M. Revalski (STScI); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)