James Webb Telescope captures stunning image of merging galaxies

The James Webb Space Telescope took a stunning photo of the object known as IC 1623. The latter is a pair of interlaced and merging galaxies located in the constellation Cetus, about 270 million light-years from Earth.

The process seen in the photo is called the merger of galaxies. In IC 1623, two galaxies are sinking into each other, and their collision is expected to trigger a violent wave of star formation, resulting in the formation of new stars.

Because this pair of galaxies is well visible in the infrared spectrum, it could be an ideal target for imaging with the Webb Space Telescope. The team of astronomers was able to image IC 1623 in the infrared part of the electromagnetic spectrum using the Webb telescope's three advanced science instruments: MIRI, NIRSpec, and NIRCam. This photo shows the unprecedented capabilities of the Webb telescope, which can help study the complex interactions in galactic ecosystems.

In 2021, the Hubble Space Telescope also photographed the object IC 1623 (photo below). Here, above the galaxies, you can see orange and brown circles; it is actually dust beyond which the Hubble, unlike the Webb telescope, cannot "see."

If we compare the two images, we can see that the dark brown areas are much brighter in the photo taken by the Webb telescope, and the background galaxies, which also appeared in the frame, are seen better.

The new photo also shows refracted rays, which do not actually exist, and they appeared in the frame due to the structural features of the Webb telescope. These rays appear in the frame as a result of light refraction, which occurs due to the parts holding the secondary mirror and slightly disrupts its structure in the resulting image. Such rays can also appear in the images of other telescopes, including Hubble.