James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)

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Hubble Images a Peculiar Spiral

2 May 2025

 

A beautiful but skewed spiral galaxy dazzles in this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image. The galaxy, called Arp 184 or NGC 1961, sits about 190 million light-years away from Earth in the constellation Camelopardalis (The Giraffe).

 

The name Arp 184 comes from the Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies compiled by astronomer Halton Arp in 1966. It holds 338 galaxies that are oddly shaped and tend to be neither entirely elliptical nor entirely spiral-shaped. Many of the galaxies are in the process of interacting with other galaxies, while others are dwarf galaxies without well-defined structures. Arp 184 earned its spot in the catalog thanks to its single broad, star-speckled spiral arm that appears to stretch toward us. The galaxy’s far side sports a few wisps of gas and stars, but it lacks a similarly impressive spiral arm.

 

https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/hubble-images-a-peculiar-spiral/

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JWST’s most ambitious view

5 May 2025

The COSMOS-Web survey is now complete, combining JWST and Hubble infrared data. Its spectacular views show us the Universe as never before.

 

Key Takeaways

Back in 2021, proposals for JWST time were ranked and chosen, with the greatest amount of telescope time going to a large, deep, wide-field survey project: COSMOS-Web. 

 

Designed to map out galaxies, galaxy groups, galaxy clusters, and the diffuse, extended stellar halos around galaxies to the greatest precision ever, the public has long awaited its release.

 

At last, the survey has now been completed and the full, 166 megapixel image of this region of space is now available to all, revealing the Universe as never before. 

 

[Lots of nice photos, video-clips and diagrams highlighting some awe-inspiring features of our universe in the link below. Enjoy!]

 

https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/jwst-most-ambitious-view/

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New Visualization ... Explores Cosmic Cliffs

May 07, 2025 2:00 pm Release ID: 2025-123

 

Summary

Iconic Webb image transforms into a 3D landscape of gas, dust, and stars.

 

Powerful observatories like the Hubble and James Webb Space Telescopes have captured hundreds of vivid images of the cosmos. Yet even the most stunning images are a 2D representation of a 3D universe. It becomes difficult to get a sense of the true scale and structure of what we’re seeing.

 

By combining real data with scientific expertise and a dash of artistic license, a visualization team from NASA’s Universe of Learning has transformed one of Webb’s first images, the Cosmic Cliffs, into a 3D panorama. Viewers are invited to journey through this realm of dusty peaks and valleys.

 

Full Article:

https://webbtelescope.org/contents/news-releases/2025/news-2025-123#section-id-2

 

Pic Description: 

The landscape of “mountains” and “valleys” known as the Cosmic Cliffs is actually a portion of the nebula Gum 31, which contains a young star cluster called NGC 3324. Both Gum 31 and NGC 3324 are part of a vast star-forming region known as the Carina Nebula Complex.

 

Video link [1 of 3 in article]:

 

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NASA's Hubble Pinpoints Roaming Massive Black Hole

Released: Thursday, May 8, 2025 10am

 

Wandering black hole ate a star that got in its way.

 

The Hubble Space Telescope has uncovered a sneaky black hole that betrayed its presence in a Tidal Disruption Event (TDE), where a hapless star was ripped apart and swallowed in a spectacular burst of radiation. Unlike previously observed TDEs, which took place in the center of a galaxy, this event was thousands of light-years from its galactic center. This is the first offset TDE captured by optical sky surveys, and it opens up the entire possibility of uncovering this elusive population of wandering black holes with future sky surveys.

 

The TDE black hole is far enough away from the galaxy’s central supermassive black hole that they are not gravitationally bound to each other as a binary pair. And, astronomers don’t know if the roaming black hole is coming or going. Did it fall into the galaxy as a result of a merger between two galaxies? Or was it kicked out of a “wresting ring” where three supermassive black hole dynamically interacted?

 

Read more:

https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/nasas-hubble-pinpoints-roaming-massive-black-hole/

 

Pic Description:

This six-panel illustration of a tidal disruption event around a supermassive black hole shows the following:

1) A supermassive black hole is adrift inside a galaxy, its presence only detectable by gravitational lensing; 

2) A wayward star gets swept up in the black hole's intense gravitational pull; 

3) The star is stretched or "spaghettified" by gravitational tidal effects; 

4) The star's remnants form a disk around the black hole; 

5) There is a period of black hole accretion, pouring out radiation across the electromagnetic spectrum, from X-rays to radio wavelengths; and 

6) The host galaxy, seen from afar, contains a bright flash of energy that is offset from the galaxy's nucleus, where an even more massive black hole dwells.

Artwork: NASA, ESA, STScI, Ralf Crawford (STScI)