NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has captured a breathtaking near-infrared image of the iconic Sombrero galaxy, revealing its intricate details and complex history. The new image shows the galaxy’s massive bulge, which is illuminated, while the dust in the outer edges of the disk blocks some stellar light.
Compared to the visible light image from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, the near-infrared image from Webb’s NIRCam instrument reveals a more subtle dust disk. This is because longer wavelengths of infrared light emitted by stars are less affected by dust, allowing for clearer views of the galaxy’s inner workings.
Located 30 million light-years away, the Sombrero galaxy is part of the Virgo cluster and has a mass comparable to 800 billion Suns. Studies suggest that this galaxy underwent a violent merger with another galaxy, which is supported by the presence of globular clusters with varied chemical compositions.
These globular clusters are collections of hundreds of thousands of old stars held together by gravity, and their unique characteristics provide clues about the galaxy’s history. The warped appearance of the inner disk, visible from our vantage point six degrees off the galaxy’s equator, also hints at a turbulent past.
The powerful resolution of Webb’s NIRCam allows us to resolve individual stars outside of the galaxy, including red giants that appear bright in this image. These stars are cooler and have large surface areas, causing them to glow more intensely in the near-infrared light.
Astronomers studying galaxies like Sombrero can gain insights into their formation and evolution by observing them at different wavelengths. The James Webb Space Telescope is a premier space science observatory that continues to unravel mysteries of our universe and its place within it.
Source: https://science.nasa.gov/missions/webb/nasas-webb-rounds-out-picture-of-sombrero-galaxys-disk