The Spokes of the Cartwheel

Produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute’s Office of Public Outreach in collaboration with NASA’s Universe of Learning partners: Caltech/IPAC, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, and NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

 

Video imagery:

·       Cartwheel Galaxy, composite image. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Webb ERO Production Team

·       Cartwheel Galaxy, MIRI. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Webb ERO Production Team

Writer: Matthew Brown

Designer: Leah Hustak

Science review: Dr. Kelly Lepo

Education review: Jim Manning

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Images of galaxies, stars, planets, nebulas. Text, News from the Universe.

 

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A bright pink galaxy. It is round. The center is solid and has spokes that extend out at an angle. Text, August 15, 2022. The Spokes of the Cartwheel.

 

The galaxy is labeled Cartwheel Galaxy. Text, NASA'S Webb Space Telescope has revealed new details of the Cartwheel Galaxy, featuring fields of dust amid millions of young stars.

 

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Lanes of dust, traced crimson in this composite image, define the "spokes" that inspire the Cartwheel Galaxy's name.

 

The image changes from pink to blue and white. Text, In mid-infrared light, silicate dust in the spokes stands out. Silicate dust grains are similar to sand on Earth's beaches.

 

Astronomers think the spoke features are evidence of a smaller galaxy passing through the center of the Cartwheel, altering its spiral form, about 440 million years ago.

 

The pink image of the galaxy. Text, this news was brought to you in part by the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland.