Astronomers have released the latest deep-field image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. It displays never-before-seen elements in Pandora’s Cluster, a dazzling huge region of space (Abell 2744).
Webb’s observation showed three clusters of galaxies merging to form mega clusters. According to a NASA press release, the combined mass of the galaxy clusters forms a powerful gravitational lens, a natural magnification effect of gravity that allows much more distant galaxies in the early universe to be spotted by using the cluster as a magnifying glass.
The Hubble Space Telescope has previously investigated Pandora’s centre core in detail, but astronomers want to attain a combination of breadth and depth that will open up a new frontier in the study of cosmology and galaxy evolution.
An astronomer from the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania named Rachel Bezanson said in a statement that “the ancient myth of Pandora is about human curiosity and discoveries that delineate the past from the future,” which she believes is a fitting connection to the new cosmological realms Webb is opening up.
Ms Bezanson continued, “We were genuinely a little awestruck when the first photographs of Pandora’s Cluster from Webb arrived, the team said, adding, “There was so much detail in the foreground cluster and so many distant lensed galaxies, I found myself getting lost in the image. We were pleasantly surprised by Webb.”
According to NASA, the galaxy cluster “lens” is so vast that it warps the fabric of space itself, causing light from distant galaxies to seem twisted as it passes through that warped space.
The scientists captured the cluster using Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), with exposures lasting 4-6 hours for a total of around 30 hours of observation time.
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