Unveiling the Mystery of the Cosmic Question Mark: Discoveries from the James Webb Space Telescope

The Mystery of the Cosmic Question Mark in Deep Space

Introduction

Question marks revealed by a space telescope from the heart of the sky have preoccupied people during the past days, but their reality is another story.

The Image that Piqued Curiosity

A captured image showed interstellar question marks, prompting the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) team at the European Space Agency (ESA) to provide a more detailed look and answer.

There are two stars located 1470 light years from Earth in the constellation of Vela, and around them are stars called Herbig-Haro 46/47, surrounded by a disk of material that nourishes the rest as it grows for millions of years.

And just below those stars, in the background of the stunning image of deep space, is an object that looks like a giant cosmic question mark.

So does the universe ask us something?

It’s unclear exactly what the question mark object might be, but its color and shape give us a clue, representatives from the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, which manages science operations at JWST, told Space.com.

According to STScI, the red color of the object in the JWST image tells scientists that the object is very far away. Even more exciting, this may be the first time astronomers have seen the cosmic question mark.

Contrasting Opinions

The “James Webb” telescope launched by NASA 20 months ago detects a huge question mark in deep space.

The mark on the pair of young stars is called “Herbig Harrow 46/47”.

And an astronomer says: Don’t get too excited, people, it’s just two galaxies near each other. pic.twitter.com/8mOlbs2sqM

– Iyad Al-Hamoud (@Eyaaaad) August 7, 2023

Additional follow-up would also be required to find out with any certainty what it is, as the red question mark-shaped object in deep space is surrounded by galaxies of all colors and shapes.

In turn, Associate Professor of Physics at Illinois State University Matt Kaplan told Space.com, that the object may be two merged galaxies.

There are plenty of other possibilities too, Kaplan added, but he rules out a star because of the lack of octahedral refraction booms that appear to emanate from stars in JWST images as a result of their mirrors.

The Ongoing Journey of Discovery

Amazing discoveries

More than 750 pieces of scientific literature have been peer-reviewed using data produced by the James Webb Space Telescope in its first year of operations, according to STScI.

More amazing discoveries like this cosmic question mark are sure to come thanks to JWST’s high-resolution near-infrared imaging capabilities, which allow it to peer into the far reaches of the universe.

While the discovery of galaxies 13.4 million light-years away was found only 420 million years after the Big Bang.

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