Newly Discovered 'Jellyfish Galaxy' Stunned Astronomers and Could Reveal a Chapter of Galactic Evolution
Data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has helped experts discover one of the rarest galaxies in the universe. The astronomical body named COSMOS2020-635829 is supposedly a "jellyfish galaxy" spotted about 12 billion light-years away from Earth, as reported by Live Science. Such galaxies are not a usual occurrence in the areas of space analyzed by astronomers until now. It was discovered by Ian Roberts, an astronomer at Waterloo University, while sifting through images taken by the high-resolution imaging tool of JWST. He and his team are still unsure whether the galaxy observed in images is a jellyfish galaxy. However, the insights gathered about the galaxy until now point in that direction. Findings regarding the galaxy have been published in the preprint server arXiv.
Unique Jellyfish Galaxy
Jellyfish galaxies are a group of astronomical bodies that release star-forming material in the shape of a tendril as they move through space. In the newly discovered galaxy, researchers noted gas and stars coming out from just one side in tentacle-like trails. This feature made experts speculate that it could be a "jellyfish galaxy." Researchers consider such galaxies rare, as this specific stage, where the galaxies are releasing star-forming material in a particular shape, is very short on the cosmic timescale. In most cases, researchers are unable to capture these galaxies. This assertion is made based on observations from nearby space. Experts have no idea about the state of affairs in the farther areas, like the one where they spotted this new galaxy.
Nature of COSMOS2020-635829
Researchers also believe that ram pressure stripping (RPS), a typical process in the Jellyfish galaxy, is also occurring in COSMOS2020-635829, according to Phys. Jellyfish galaxy is usually found in galaxy clusters. While moving from one place to another, in the cluster, the galaxy enters a zone called the intracluster medium, essentially the space between different galaxies in the cluster. The conditions in the medium make the jellyfish galaxy start losing its gas. This process of gas removal is called RPS, which sometimes even triggers star formation in the stripped away gas. This phenomenon is unilateral and is the reason behind the 'tentacle' of jellyfish galaxies.
The team has allegedly observed this phenomenon in COSMOS2020-635829, solidifying their assertion that it is a jellyfish galaxy. The stellar disk of the particular galaxy is symmetrical and is associated with a galaxy cluster that emits intense X-ray radiation. The radiation further reflects that the particular galaxy cluster is denser than typical clusters. They also observed that the knots in the galaxy where new stars are formed share the same space as the ionized gas tail, where the released gas and star-forming material reside. As per all the insights about the galaxy, researchers conclude that the stellar mass of this particular one is around 10 billion solar masses.
Researchers want to analyze more jellyfish galaxies to get a better picture of galaxy evolution across centuries. Galaxies like 'jellyfish galaxies' in a dense environment form relatively fewer new stars than others. More understanding of why this happens could help experts in tracing how galaxies adapted to different conditions and what exactly they transformed into. These galaxies are unique in many facets and could be a crucial component of the plan that led to modern astronomical bodies.
Uncertainty in Readings
The 'tentacle' observed in COSMOS2020-635829 is mostly formed by RPS, and hence, the most plausible explanation is that the newly discovered body is a jellyfish galaxy. However, certain other reasons could lead to the appearance of the tentacle, such as an illusion. The parts of the images that show the tentacle were captured using instruments that encourage blurring. Hence, to confirm the readings, experts will sharpen the images of COSMOS2020-635829 from other telescopes to reach a proper conclusion.