An international team of astronomers has engaged the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to study the Spiderweb protocluster. Observations have shown that new galaxies are actively forming in these dense regions, and that gravitational interaction is not as important as previously thought.
The Spiderweb protocluster is a well-studied object in the early Universe. The light it emitted took more than 10 billion years to reach us. The protocluster consists of more than a hundred growing galaxies. Astronomers figuratively compare them to cities under construction.
Astronomers study such objects to better understand the process of galaxy formation and how this process is affected by their surroundings. As a rule, they are surrounded by dust clouds, which scatter visible light and significantly complicate observations. This is where JWST comes in. Thanks to its infrared observing abilities, astronomers have engaged it to observe regions of the Spiderweb protocluster that were previously hidden by cosmic dust.
As expected, JWST has found new galaxies. To the astronomers’ surprise, they turned out to be much larger than expected. They also found that previously known protocluster galaxies, similar to typical star-forming galaxies like our Milky Way, are not as obscured by dust as previously thought. This also came as a surprise.
The JWST findings can be explained by the fact that gravitational interaction and mergers are not the main factors in galaxy growth that trigger star formation. The main reason is the accumulation of gas in different places of the large-scale protocluster structure, which fuels the formation of new stars.
According to the researchers, they plan to continue observing the Spiderweb protocluster with JWST in the future to study the newly discovered galaxies in more detail.
Earlier we told you about how James Webb discerned the youngest galaxies in the Universe.
Provided by ESA
