The Phoenix Galaxy Cluster | NASA Webb Telescope & Chandra X-ray Observatory
This image of the Phoenix cluster combines data from the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope, NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory's Very Large Array (VLA) radio telescope. It shows how the supermassive black hole at the center promotes large amounts of star formation, instead of hindering it. The Phoenix Cluster (SPT-CL J2344-4243) is a massive, Abell class type I galaxy cluster located at its namesake, southern constellation of Phoenix.
X-rays from Chandra depict extremely hot gas in purple. Optical light data from Hubble show galaxies in yellow, and filaments of cooler gas where stars are forming in light blue.
Outburst-generated jets, represented in red, are seen in radio waves by the VLA. As the jets push outward, they inflated cavities, or bubbles, in the hot gas that pervades the cluster.
New observations from the NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space Agency James Webb Space Telescope trace the cooling gas along those cavities. This enables the Phoenix cluster to form stars at such a high rate.
A Quirk of Nature
Webb’s capability to detect this specific temperature of cooling gas, around 540,000 degrees Fahrenheit, is in part due to its instrumental capabilities. However, the researchers are getting a little help from nature, as well.
This oddity involves two very different ionized atoms, neon and oxygen, created in similar environments. At these temperatures, the emission from oxygen is 100 times brighter but is only visible in ultraviolet. Even though the neon is much fainter, it glows in the infrared, which allowed the researchers to take advantage of Webb’s advanced instruments.
“In the mid-infrared wavelengths detected by Webb, the neon VI signature was absolutely booming,” explained Michael Reefe, also of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, lead author on the paper published in Nature. “Even though this emission is usually more difficult to detect, Webb’s sensitivity in the mid-infrared cuts through all of the noise.”
The team now hopes to employ this technique to study more typical galaxy clusters. While the Phoenix cluster is unique in many ways, this proof of concept is an important step towards learning about how other galaxy clusters form stars.
Release Date: Feb. 17, 2025
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