A team of astronomers has made a groundbreaking discovery using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, uncovering 44 individual stars in a galaxy 6.5 billion light-years away. The finding, enabled by gravitational lensing, sets a new record for observing distant stars and opens up new avenues for understanding dark matter and the universe’s structure at its early stages.
Using JWST’s powerful combination of light-collecting capabilities and gravitational lensing, the researchers observed the Dragon Arc galaxy, which is located along the line of sight from Earth behind a massive cluster of galaxies called Abell 370. The cluster creates a “hall of mirrors” effect that stretches the galaxy’s signature spiral into an elongated shape.
The team analyzed the colors of each star inside the galaxy and found that many are red supergiants, similar to Betelgeuse in the constellation of Orion. This discovery highlights the unique power of JWST observations at infrared wavelengths, which can reveal stars at lower temperatures.
This record-breaking discovery demonstrates that studying large numbers of individual stars in a distant galaxy is possible. The research opens up new possibilities for understanding dark matter and the structure of galaxies at their early stages. Future JWST observations are expected to capture more magnified stars, providing insight into the universe’s mysteries.
The discovery also sheds light on the elusive nature of dark matter, which has long been a topic of scientific study. By observing individual stars in distant galaxies, scientists can gain a better understanding of how galaxies form and evolve. The findings were published in Nature Astronomy and provide new insights into the universe’s structure and evolution.
Source: https://scitechdaily.com/44-hidden-stars-revealed-gravitational-lensing-unlocks-the-secrets-of-the-dragon-arc