This James Webb Telescope image shows a question mark-shaped structure in deep space: NPR

Scientists say the question mark-like structure in a new image from the James Webb Space Telescope is likely the merger of two or more galaxies.

NASA, European Space Agency, Canadian Space Agency, J. Dipasquale

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Scientists say the question mark-like structure in a new image from the James Webb Space Telescope is likely the merger of two or more galaxies.

NASA, European Space Agency, Canadian Space Agency, J. Dipasquale

The James Webb Space Telescope recently captured a stunning new image of what scientists call a pair of active stars.

But eagle-eyed viewers were quick to grab a smaller — and for some more interesting — detail at the bottom of the frame: an orange formation in the unmistakable shape of a question mark, tail and all.

Image – which is actually a composite of half a dozen infrared images – spread on social media such as X (formerly Twitter) And reddit After the European Space Agency (one of the three agencies behind the telescope) shared it late last month, prompting ESA to clarify Weeks later, “This is not a hoax.”

“Aliens know we found them and now they’re messing with us,” one Reddit user wrote.

The image shows a pair of tightly packed young stars known as Herbig-Haro 46/47, surrounded by a disk of gas and dust, and dotted with distant background galaxies and stars.

A new image from the James Webb Space Telescope shows a tight pair of actively forming stars (in the center of the red ripples). But many people are more curious about the structure in the form of a question mark, which is shaded in the lower center of the frame.

NASA, ESA, Canadian Space Agency, J. DiPascual (STScI)

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NASA, ESA, Canadian Space Agency, J. DiPascual (STScI)

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A new image from the James Webb Space Telescope shows a tight pair of actively forming stars (in the center of the red ripples). But many people are more curious about the structure in the form of a question mark, which is shaded in the lower center of the frame.

NASA, ESA, Canadian Space Agency, J. DiPascual (STScI)

The European Space Agency says Herbig-Haro 46/47 is important to study because it is “only a few thousand years old” — and since stars take millions of years to form, its young age offers researchers an opportunity to observe how stars accumulate mass over time (and to model formation). One of the most famous stars, the Sun).

However, the scientists acknowledge that it is not the only formation observed in the image.

Macarena Garcia-Marín, Webb’s project scientist at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore (which manages the telescope’s science operations), told NPR in an email that Question Mark is “a great example of how using Webb no matter who you are by looking, you can have surprises in the background.” “.

And she has at least one theory as to why she’s so popular.

Garcia Marin writes: “I think we all enjoy finding familiar shapes in the sky; this creates a deep connection between our human experience, our language in this case (question mark!), and the beauty of the universe around us.” “I think this represents the human need to explore and wonder, and for me it begs the question of how many other interesting things are waiting to be explored with Webb!”

So what exactly is it?

Something that looks like punctuation marks, scientists say, looks like two or more Galaxies merge – the intensive process Through which galaxies collide (the Milky Way itself is a byproduct of one of the mergers).

“It looks like a cluster or opportunity alignment of two or three galaxies,” Kai Noeske, ESA’s Communications Program Officer, said via email. “The upper part of the question mark looks like a distorted spiral galaxy, possibly merging with a second galaxy.”

Although it’s very far from certain, says Nora Lutzgendorf, ESA study scientist, the question mark arc likely comes from tidal interaction between galaxies, “and the blob could also just be a smaller spherical galaxy.”

She adds that galaxy mergers are actually a very common astrophysical phenomenon — even our own galaxy interacting with its neighbor, the Andromeda Galaxy. Garcia Marin similarly calls it “a natural phase in the life and evolution of galaxies”.

But that doesn’t mean we see them often.

“It’s all about projection,” Garcia Marin explains. The reason we see galaxies as a question mark, she says, is a result of the angle at which they faced each other and our own point of view.

“This question mark shape perfectly captures the effects of projection when looking at the sky,” she adds. “What we measure is a two-dimensional image of a universe filled with objects spanning space and time. We see their projection; this formed object is much further away from us than HH 46/47 has no direct influence on.”

But she noticed one interesting relationship between the two phenomena.

More generally, she says, the process of galaxies interacting with each other can lead to the formation of stars — “and it can give birth to things like HH 46/47, the main subject of the photo.”

An image released by NASA last summer shows that the Stefan quintet was captured by the Webb telescope.

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NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI/AP

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An image released by NASA last summer shows that the Stefan quintet was captured by the Webb telescope.

NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI/AP

What can you teach us?

Galaxy mergers generate “all kinds of beautiful shapes and structures,” Garcia Marin says — particularly depending on the angle from which they’re viewed.

One example is Stephen QuintetA visible group of five closely spaced galaxies located in the constellation of Pegasus. She was one of the first The images were released from the Webb telescope Last summer, a swirling group of stars and sweeping tails are visible.

Luetzgendorf says that images of some of the (relatively) closest interacting galaxies, like the Whirlpool Galaxy and Antennae, bear some resemblance to the structure people are talking about now.

This image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows the Antenna galaxies, formerly separate galaxies that have spent the past hundreds of millions of years entangling each other.

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This image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows the Antenna galaxies, formerly separate galaxies that have spent the past hundreds of millions of years entangling each other.

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“You can see the similarities and how from a different perspective and from afar, this might look like a question mark,” she adds.

Given that mergers are relatively common, and the new images really focus on growing stars, is there anything new we can learn from the Question Mark hidden inside? Garcia Marin thinks so.

“If this is a galaxy merger,” she says, “it would be important to see how it fits with what we know about mergers and its significance for galaxy evolution.”