NASA recently released a new image taken by the James Webb Space Telescope of two spiral galaxies merging in the constellation Serpens, 250 million light-years away. NASA says the collision of two spiral galaxies, dubbed “Arp 220,” began about 700 million years ago and led to a massive burst of star formation.1 trillion times brighter than the sun
“This is an ultra-bright infrared galaxy (ULIRG) with a luminosity of more than a trillion Suns,” NASA officials said in a news release. About 200 star clusters are thought to be located in a dense, dusty region 5,000 light-years across. It was also underlined that the amount of gas in this small region is equal to the amount of gas in the entire Milky Way galaxy.Scientists say Arp 220 is both the closest ultra-bright infrared galaxy and the brightest of the three galactic mergers closest to Earth. However, as stated, the resulting light is in infrared wavelengths, so the human eye cannot detect it. However, since Webb’s internal observing instruments can also detect infrared waves, these two galaxies make an ideal field of study.
By the way, the top image is taken by Webb, and the bottom image is taken by Hubble.
Previously, radio telescopes have seen 100 supernova remnants spanning less than 500 light-years of Arp 220, and the Hubble Space Telescope has discovered that the cores of the two main galaxies are only 1,200 light-years apart. But Webb’s image provides even more detail about the intriguingly bright light source.
