Astronomers believe that the Cartwheel Galaxy was originally a spiral galaxy, much like our Milky Way. It got its current ring shape after a collision with a smaller galaxy. The bright center of the Cartwheel galaxy is surrounded by a colorful ring.
Thanks to images from the James Webb telescope, astronomers have gained new knowledge about the individual stars in this chaotic galaxy, as well as the black hole at its center, the CNN news server reported. The images provide more details about how this galaxy evolved.
The galaxy was already observed by the Hubble telescope, but the infrared images of the Webb telescope reveal new details that remained hidden until now. In addition to the Cartwheel galaxy, two smaller galaxies and many others in the background are also visible in the image.
The Cartwheel Galaxy is still in a transition period, NASA said in a statement. “As the James Webb Telescope shows us the current state, it also gives us an idea of what happened in the past and how things will evolve in the future,” NASA added.
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