Together, the five galaxies of Stephan’s Quintet are also known as the Hickson Compact Group 92 (HCG 92). Most dramatically, Webb captures huge shock waves as one of the galaxies, NGC 7318B, smashes through the cluster. Sweeping tails of gas, dust and stars are being pulled from several of the galaxies due to gravitational interactions. Sparkling clusters of millions of young stars and starburst regions of fresh star birth grace the image. With its powerful, infrared vision and extremely high spatial resolution, Webb shows never-before-seen details in this galaxy group. The information from Webb provides new insights into how galactic interactions may have driven galaxy evolution in the early universe. It contains over 150 million pixels and is constructed from almost 1,000 separate image files. This enormous mosaic is Webb’s largest image to date, covering about one-fifth of the Moon’s diameter. Stephan’s Quintet, a visual grouping of five galaxies, is best known for being prominently featured in the holiday classic film, “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Today, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope reveals Stephan’s Quintet in a new light. Tight galaxy groups like this may have been more common in the early universe when superheated, infalling material may have fueled very energetic black holes. The image also shows outflows driven by a supermassive black hole in one of the group’s galaxies in a level of detail never seen before. Stephan’s Quintet is a fantastic “laboratory” for studying these processes fundamental to all galaxies. Rarely do scientists see in so much detail how interacting galaxies trigger star formation in each other, and how the gas in these galaxies is being disturbed. In an enormous new image, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope reveals never-before-seen details of the galaxy group called “Stephan’s Quintet.” The close proximity of this group gives astronomers a ringside seat to galactic mergers and interactions. The visual grouping of five galaxies was captured by Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) and Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI).
An enormous mosaic of Stephan’s Quintet is the largest image to date from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, covering about one-fifth of the Moon’s diameter.
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