Using high-resolution imaging from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), astronomers have discovered what appears to be a new “jellyfish” galaxy, about 12 billion light years away from Earth.
The galaxy appears to have a gas- and star-like tentacle-like trail protruding from one side, possibly a jellyfish galaxy. It is a class of galaxies that drip star-forming materials when swimming through space. It will take more analysis to see if a new galaxy really falls into this category, but so far all the indications show that it is.
Ian Roberts, an astronomer at the University of Waterloo, sifted through images taken by JWST, discovering a unique galaxy. His team’s research can be read on Preprint Server Arxiv, but has not yet been peer-reviewed.
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“The fact that such an interesting galaxy can be found in such a rough way suggests that there is real value in truly systematically searching for objects of this kind,” Roberts told Live Science in an email.
Jellyfish Galaxy
Jellyfish galaxies develop tentacles when they undergo a phenomenon called RAM pressure exfoliation that occurs when galaxies pass through dense media between other nearby galaxies within the galaxy cluster. This movement eventually pushes some gases and stars out of the roaming galaxy, driving them behind. These tentacles can form many stars.
Astronomers don’t think this kind of pressure stripping is rare in nearby spaces, but jellyfish stages are lacking on the space timescale, so it’s rare to capture these aquatic types before they disappear.
Related: “Previously Unthinkable”: James Webb’s Telescope Breakes Its own Record Again, Discovers the Most Known Galaxy in the Universe
But Roberts said “really don’t know how common they are” in the universe where JWST observed this new jellyfish galaxy.
Jellyfish galaxies provide a way to study galaxy evolution and star formation. Some galaxies in dense environments form much fewer new stars than others, and understand why they are fundamental to understanding how galaxies change over time.
The stars are also affected by RAM pressure peeling. According to Roberts, a surge of new stars could form on the trails behind the jellyfish galaxy, but the loss of gas at the center of the galaxy can prevent its formation there.
RAM pressure delamination is the best explanation for new observations, but there may be other reasons why the galaxy appears to be so and other reasons that cannot be ruled out yet. The jelly attachment may be an illusion. Some of the images showing tentacles were photographed using methods that produce blur and introduce uncertainty, Roberts said.
Next Steps
With limited existing data on jellyfish galaxies, it is not clear to astronomers whether far-off jellyfish galaxies in the universe are rare. “We don’t know the answer yet, but the more galaxies like this are discovered, the more clues we get,” Roberts said.
The research team hopes to sharpen the image by collecting data from other telescopes.
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