NASA spot question mark in space through James Webb Space Telescope
All stars kind of look the same, but have you ever seen punctuation in space?
Space might be the final frontier (for now), but it is also one of the most fascinating.
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The James Webb Space Telescope (sometimes called JWST or Webb) is a large infrared telescope with a 6.5-meter primary mirror that was launched by NASA with its purpose being the main observatory where astronomers from all over the world can study the deeper intricacies of space.
However, sometimes it doesn't have to be all work and no play.
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In a recent tweet, the official account for the JWST posted a beautiful picture of two baby stars forming.
While the average human might not be able to tell much from the picture below, except that it looks extremely pretty, they did provide a brief description of what is actually taking place in the picture:
Going goblin mode.
— NASA Webb Telescope (@NASAWebb) July 26, 2023
Within the orange-white splotch at the center of this image are 2 chaotic baby stars. Over thousands of years, the pair repeatedly gobbled up, then spat out the gas and dust around them — producing those fiery orange lobes: https://t.co/lSOy5uyCYD pic.twitter.com/jHVu6YlGXv
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That's not what has captivated most of the internet though.
Someone, somewhere happened to notice that if you zoomed in on the picture, it seemed as though a question mark had appeared amongst the stars.
It's still unclear what the possible phenomenon might be, but representatives of the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, which manages JWST's science operations, spoke to Space.com and said that they do know that the red colour indicates that it is quite distant.
It is probably a distant galaxy, or potentially interacting galaxies (their interactions may have caused the distorted question mark-shape). This may be the first time we've seen this particular object. Additional follow-up would be required to figure out what it is with any certainty. Webb is showing us many new, distant galaxies — so there's a lot of new science to be done!
While we wait to find out exactly what this question mark is, who knows what other fun and weird shapes are waiting to be discovered in space!
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Main image courtesy of NASA, ESA, CSA. Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)