NASA has released unprecedented photos of the so-called “Sombreiro Galaxy” recorded by the James Webb Space Telescope.
The Sombreiro Galaxy, named for its resemblance to the typical Mexican hat, is about 30 million light-years from Earth, said the American space agency.
It is surrounded by multiple rings, where stars form. At its center, there is a supermassive black hole that emits a bright jet of light and consumes material from the interior of the galaxy.
Continues after advertising
Both the rings and the black hole are relatively “docile,” according to NASA, and neither creates much solar activity.
What distinguishes the galaxy are its 2,000 globular clusters, collections of hundreds of thousands of ancient stars held together by gravity.
These clusters allow astronomers to study stars, since there are thousands of stars in a single area.
Continues after advertising
The stars are about the same age but vary in many other ways, allowing scientists to compare them.
The photos taken by the Webb telescope reveal a new texture on the galaxy’s outer ring and detail the dust along the ring. This dust is an “essential building block” for solar objects, NASA said.
The outer ring had been photographed before, but it looked “softer”. The most detailed images revealed intricate clusters throughout the rings.
Continues after advertising
The images also show several galaxies in the background, which NASA says could allow astronomers to learn about their properties, including how far they are from the Sombreiro Galaxy.
