Astronomers peering into the ancient Universe have discovered a cluster of dense galaxies forming around an extremely red quasar. The images captured by James Webb Space Telescope will better understand how the galaxies during the early period of the Universe fused into the cosmic web.
The Webb telescope, armed with spectroscopic capabilities in tandem with its capacity to see through the infrared level of the spectrum, produced its second dramatic image of the Universe never before known.
Very Dense 'Knot'
Using the Webb, scientists discovered a very dense "knot" of no less than three galaxies forming around a red quasar about 11.5 billion years ago. This period corresponds to more than 2 billion years after the Universe came into being after what scientists called the Big Bang.
Webb's spectrographic capabilities near the infrared level revealed the three galaxies orbiting each other at speed up to 435 miles per second in the region believed to be the densest areas of the ancient galaxy formation.
Lead scientist Dominika Wylezalek said the unusually dense knot suggests two "halos" of dark matter merging, a report in Engadget said.
The quasar (SDSS J165202.64+172852.3) where these galaxies were seen forming was also unusual, the scientists noted. While the quasar was extremely red, it did not emit a wide range of light, a rare phenomenon among quasars.
A gas tumbling into a monster black hole at the center of the galaxies had powered these objects that served as active galactic nuclei.
Initial interpretations of the data from the Webb telescope pointed to signs of major interactions between the galaxies, researcher and team member Andrey Vayner of John Hopkins University in Baltimore, USA.
Webb Telescope's Sensors
Previous studies using the Gemini-North and Hubble telescope had also peered into the quasars outflows. But only the sensors of the Webb telescope have revealed more than one galaxy as host.
Significance of Webb Findings
The findings only point to more investigations into how galaxy clusters of this kind were formed and why monster black holes affect their behaviors.
The discoveries using the Webb telescope have underscored the improvement of humanity's capacity to understand better the origin of the present-day galaxies formed.
While expanding humanity's understanding of galaxy formation, the Webb telescope discoveries also enrich the present body of knowledge about quasars.
The spectroscopic capabilities of the Webb telescope, he said, are ushering in a new era of infrared spectroscopy.
Scientists are expecting more quasar discoveries with the Webb telescope.
Investigations Into the Early Universe
The latest findings are only the first in a trilogy of studies using the Webb telescope that will eventually lead to more understanding of the history of the Universe, they said.
Moreover, the discoveries by Wylezalek's team showed the Webb telescope's extraordinary capabilities and power to bring in new details of the Universe.
The researchers are planning to conduct follow-up investigations into this type of galaxy proto-cluster.
The team is hoping to get more information that will lead to a better understanding of the Universe.
