Jellyfish Galaxy ESO 137-001. Credit: NASAScientists have discovered an unusual galaxy in the early universe using the Webb Space Telescope. It is the most distant jellyfish galaxy known so far. Astronomers have discovered a galaxy that may be the most distant jellyfish galaxy ever discovered. It is 12 billion light years away and could help improve our understanding of how galaxies open up and new stars form. Astronomers want to conduct additional observations to confirm that this object does indeed belong to the class of unusual galaxies. The study was published on the preprint server arXiv. Astronomers using the Webb Space Telescope have discovered a unique galaxy that has tentacles of gas and stars, and therefore most likely belongs to the class of jellyfish galaxies. So far, everything points to this. Jellyfish galaxies are thought to be former spiral galaxies like the Milky Way that were deformed as they moved through the dense medium of a galaxy cluster. As a result, they release gas that resembles the tentacles of a jellyfish. This is what the new jellyfish galaxy looks like. The numbers indicate its tentacles of gas and stars. Photo: NASA Interestingly, new stars are formed in these tentacles, but scientists do not understand how this can happen. The fact is that the ejected gas must be very hot, and cold gas is needed to create stars. Astronomers say that jellyfish galaxies are not very rare in the local universe, but the galaxies exist in this stage for a relatively short time in cosmic terms, and therefore finding a jellyfish galaxy that has not yet merged with other galaxies is considered very lucky. Given that the new jellyfish galaxy was discovered 12 billion light years away, this object is currently considered the most distant representative of the unusual class of galaxies known. Although all signs point to the new object being a jellyfish galaxy, astronomers want to conduct further observations to confirm this fact. The study’s authors say no one yet knows how common jellyfish galaxies were in the early universe, so studying the new galaxy is important. Jellyfish galaxies can be used to study the evolution of galaxies and the process by which new stars form. Some galaxies in the dense environment of galaxy clusters create fewer new stars than others, and understanding why this happens is critical to understanding how galaxies change over time. Astronomers say there may be other reasons why the new galaxy has an odd appearance. It is not to be ruled out that the so-called tentacles may be an optical illusion. The post Astronomers Discover a Jellyfish Galaxy with ‘Tentacles’ in Deep Space appeared first on Anomalien.com.