Colliding Spiral Galaxies Captured in Sparkling Detail
Astronomers combined data from NASA’s JWST and Chandra X-ray Observatory to create a stunning new image of two merging spiral galaxies
X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Infrared: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI/Webb; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare
Two space telescopes really are better than one. This month NASA released a new image that combines observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and the Chandra X-ray Observatory of two spiral galaxies on a cosmic collision course.
The two space telescopes have very different trajectories—giving them each a heady vantage point on the universe. JWST orbits the sun and observes the cosmos in infrared light, whereas Chandra, which orbits Earth, is sensitive to the x-ray spectrum. The newly released image combines their observations into one, revealing the galaxies IC 2163 (the left-hand galaxy) and NGC 2207 (on the right) in a new light.
The pair are located some 120 million light-years from Earth. The larger galaxy, NGC 2207, is slowly stretching and stripping the smaller of the pair. Together they are joined in a slow, gravitational dance that will, billions of years from now, end in their merger into a single galaxy. In the image, mid-infrared data from JWST shows dust and other cooler matter in white, gray and red, while x-ray data from Chandra shows high-energy areas, including regions of intense star formation, in blue.
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When galaxies merge, they can trigger explosive bursts of star formation, and astronomers are keen to observe these collisions to understand how galaxies evolve over time.
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