Hubble and Webb Collaborate to Unveil 'Gazing at Earth' Sights with a Reddish Tint
NASA's space telescopes have unfolded a chilling interstellar tale, depicting two galaxies inching towards each other before their inevitable, violent collision in a gruesome merger.
The Webb and Hubble telescopes collaborated to deliver the highest definition snapshot of a duo of spiraling galaxies, illuminated against the black canvas of space, resembling two menacing, bloody eyes.
These spectral sentinels glow in a grotesque shade of crimson against the cosmic backdrop. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI
The snapshot, reminiscent of a minimalistic expressionist painting, serves as a harbinger of things to come. The two galaxies are embarking on a course of collision, a process that will unfold over millions of years. As of now, the two have merely brushed past each other, with the smaller galaxy on the left, identified as IC 2163, insidiously closing in on its larger counterpart, NGC 2207, the spiral galaxy on the right.
The crimson hue of the image is a result of the combination of mid-infrared light from Webb with visible and ultraviolet light from Hubble, according to NASA. The bold, red veins in the image mark the spots where material from the two galaxies might have clashed during their initial encounter.
The two spiral galaxies exhibit a remarkable rate of new star birth. Annually, they spawn the equivalent of two dozen stars as massive as our Sun, in contrast to the Milky Way galaxy, which only produces two or three Sun-like stars a year. Both galaxies have also given birth to seven known supernovae within the past few decades, while the Milky Way nurtures an average of one supernova every 50 years. The supernovae within these galaxies may have cleansed their spiral arms, rearranging gas and dust which later cooled, allowing infant stars to materialize.
The star-forming regions within these galaxies can be discerned in intense blue (courtesy of Hubble's ultraviolet capabilities) and pink and white (captured by Webb's mid-infrared cameras). The image also reveals mini starbursts, areas of rapid, consecutive star formation, highlighted in other dazzling regions.
It took millions of years for the galaxies to make their first encounter, and it will take millions more for them to merge. Over this period, the galaxies will make numerous close calls. Although we can't be there to witness it, the image provides us with a glimpse into the potential future of the spiral galaxies, and it's not appealing. The cores and arms of the two galaxies will amalgamate, resulting in oddly shaped arms, and a solitary, Sauron-esque gaze rather than a pair of malevolent eyes, surveying the surrounding cosmos.
We're witnessing an increasing number of unsettling cosmic phenomena today. The European Southern Observatory (ESO) documented a shadowy specter of a wolf, or perhaps a horse, in the constellation Scorpius, at the heart of the Milky Way.
The ominously nicknamed Dark Wolf Nebula (still seeing a horse), located approximately 5,300 light years away from Earth, extends across an expanse equivalent to four full Moons in the sky, according to ESO. Dark nebulae are a dicey proposition, colossal, frigid clouds of cosmic dust that obstruct the light of stars behind them, and do not emit any visible light of their own.
NASA's Perseverance rover also detected an eye from Mars. This might be a tad less frightening and a whole lot more preposterous, but Mars' diminutive, potato-shaped moon Phobos temporarily obscured a segment of the Sun from the rover's view, creating the kitschiest of googly eyes staring down at Perseverance.
The Martian googly eye may not be as horrifying as the pair of cannibalistic, blood-spattered eyes or the mysterious dark wolf (or horse) emerging as a colossal celestial shadow, but it'll suffice for now.
The snapshots from NASA's telescopes serve as warnings of future cosmic collisions, like the approaching merge of NGC 2207 and IC 2163, which could revolutionize our understanding of galaxy evolution. Furthermore, the advancements in space technology and future space telescopes could potentially enable us to observe such events in real-time, offering invaluable insights into the universe's dynamic future.
