Spiderweb protocluster is filled with baby galaxies, James Webb Space Telescope reveals (image)

By Robert Lea published 15 hours ago

"We are observing the build-up of one the largest structures in the universe, a city of galaxies in construction."



Hundreds of galaxies appear in this view, which is set against the black background of space. There are many overlapping objects at various distances. They include large, blue foreground stars, some with eight diffraction spikes, and white and pink spiral and elliptical galaxies. Numerous tiny orange dots appear throughout the scene

The Spiderweb protocluster as seen by the James Webb Space Telescope and its NIRCam instrument (Image credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, H. Dannerbauer )


Astronomers have used the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to explore the strands of the Spiderweb protocluster. While the $10 billion space telescope didn't find a creepy cosmic spider at the heart of this intergalactic web, it did discover some surprises.

Those include new galaxies in this protocluster (a galaxy cluster in its early stages of formation), which contains around 100 known galaxies and is located 10 billion light-years from Earth. This means the JWST sees the Spiderweb protocluster as it was around 4 billion years after the Big Bang.

Astronomers can use vast "cosmic cities" like this, which represent the early gathering of galaxies, to understand the growth and evolution of the universe.

"We are observing the build-up of one the largest structures in the universe, a city of galaxies in construction,” team member Jose M. Pérez-Martínez of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias said in a statement. "We know that most galaxies in local galaxy clusters, the biggest metropolises of the universe, are old and not very active, whereas in this work, we are looking at these objects during their adolescence.

More:
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/james-webb-space-telescope-spiderweb