James Webb Space Telescope's 'Warped' El Gordo Galaxy Cluster View Explained

Space.com

James Webb Space Telescope has delivered stunning views of the "gravitationally distorted realms" of the El Gordo galaxy cluster, according to Space.com.  Credits Image: NASA, ESA, CSA Science: Jose M. Diego (IFCA), Brenda Frye (University of Arizona), Patrick Kamieneski (ASU), Tim Carleton (ASU), Rogier Windhorst (ASU) Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI), Jake Summers (ASU), Jordan C. J. D'Silva (UWA), Anton M. Koekemoer (STScI), Aaron Robotham (UWA), Rogier Windhorst (ASU) Video: Danielle Kirshenblat (STScI)

Transcript

00:00This infrared image, taken by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, depicts El Gordo,

00:06a cluster of hundreds of galaxies that existed when the universe was 6.2 billion years old.

00:11This view displays a clear assortment of unusual, distorted background galaxies

00:16that were suggested in previous Hubble images of the area.

00:23The El Gordo galaxy cluster is a classic example of gravitational lensing,

00:27where the cluster's gravity bends and distorts light from faraway objects behind it.

00:33Due to El Gordo's lensing, distant galaxies become brighter and appear larger,

00:38allowing us to see parts of the universe that would otherwise be too faint to observe.

00:43This lensing effect can also cause galaxies to appear duplicated or mirrored.

00:48One of the most prominent features is the bright red arc. Nicknamed El Anzuelo,

00:53or the fishhook, the light from this galaxy traveled for 10.6 billion years to reach Earth.

01:01Its unique red color is the result of dust from within the galaxy itself,

01:05as well as cosmological redshift, which refers to the redder hues from light waves

01:10that are stretched out due to their extreme increasing distance from us.

01:15The long pencil-thin line is known as La Flaca, or the thin one. It is another lensed background

01:21galaxy whose light also took nearly 11 billion years to reach Earth.

01:27Not far from La Flaca is another lensed galaxy,

01:30containing an image of a single red giant star nicknamed Coyier.

01:34It's nearly impossible to see lensed red giant stars without the infrared technology

01:39and sensitivity of Webb. Coyier is the first individual red giant star observed at a

01:44staggering distance of over 10 billion light-years from Earth, and is the first of its kind spotted

01:49by Webb. With this new image of El Gordo, a gateway to groundbreaking scientific discoveries

01:56is unveiled, promising a wealth of new knowledge and insights into the

01:59captivating mysteries of our ever-expanding universe.

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