The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) continues to astound scientists and space enthusiasts alike with its remarkable discoveries.
Recently, it captured an image of two actively forming young stars, named Herbig-Haro 46/47, located 1,470 light-years from Earth in the Vela Constellation. However, the most intriguing part of the image is a distant object resembling a giant cosmic question mark.
The question mark-shaped object is believed to be a distant galaxy or potentially interacting galaxies. The object's red color in the JWST image indicates that it is quite distant.
This might be the first time astronomers have seen this cosmic question mark, and additional follow-up would be required to determine its nature with any certainty.
The JWST, managed by the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, is showing us many new, distant galaxies, opening up a plethora of new scientific possibilities.
Matt Caplan, an assistant professor of physics at Illinois State University, suggested that the object might be two galaxies merging. The distinct features of the question mark could be part of a larger galaxy getting tidally disrupted.
The JWST's high-resolution near-infrared imaging capabilities allow it to peer into the far reaches of the universe, spotting galaxies as distant as 13.4 million light-years away.
These capabilities promise more stunning discoveries like this cosmic question mark. In its first year of operations, over 750 pieces of peer-reviewed scientific literature using data produced by the JWST have been published, according to STScI.