NASA released images of the distant galaxy called the “Cartwheel Galaxy.” The agency said in a press release that the Cartwheel Galaxy is located about 500 million light-years away in the Sculptor constellation.
The James Webb Space Telescope has been capturing beautiful images over the pass few months. Thankfully they share these beautiful images with the world.
In the image you can see that the Cartwheel Galaxy has a bright inner ring, the result of a high-speed collision between a large spiral galaxy and a smaller galaxy, NASA said. The galaxy’s right inner ring contains a massive amount of hot dust, with the brightest areas holding gigantic young stars clusters. The out ring has been expanding for close to 440 million years. Stars are formed when it expands and hits the surrounding gas, according to NASA.
NASA said the Cartwheel Galaxy is categorized as a “ring galaxy,” that is more rare than spiral galaxies like our Milky Way. The image also helped provide NASA with insight as to how the Cartwheel Galaxy evolved, from a normal galaxy like the Milky Way before its collision. The Cartwheel Galaxy is still transitioning, and will continue transform.
