May 24, 2024

Suri Le

10th Grade

Fountain Valley High School

The universe works in mysterious ways. Even though we question the universe, is it questioning us back? On Wednesday, July 26, 2023, the James Webb Space Telescope team based at the European Space Agency (ESA) publicly released a stunning image of a pair of young stars forming almost 1,500 light years away from Earth. Upon further analysis of the photo, viewers noticed an object in the background resembling almost a perfect question mark icon. Across social media, the zoomed-in image went viral with references to popular Sci-Fi culture such as The Matrix and more. 

Though it is not certain what the object is, scientists were able to break down what it could be based on its appearance and shape. Representatives at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) located in Baltimore claimed it to be “...probably a distant galaxy, or potentially interacting galaxies”, as the object’s red color indicates its distance. However, Matt Caplan, a physicist at Illinois State University, argues that it could be “...a star in the Milky Way. [Because] [s]tars always have these really big spikes…called diffraction”. As the distance of the question mark is so far away, there is difficulty in confirming what type of celestial body it is. 

Despite their differences in the exact type of classification, scientists are also trying to figure out if the shape of the mark itself is a result of 2D projection or the merging of two galaxies. David Helfand, an astronomer at Columbia University, believes that the two bodies may be unrelated and just happen to look like a question mark because of the angle the photo was taken. This is further supported by Dr. Macarena Garcia Marin, an Astrophysicist for ESA, who explains that “[w]hat we measure is a 2D image of a Universe filled with objects spanning time and space”. Nonetheless, she also believes that the shape could have also been because of galaxy mergers, or the process of interacting galaxies that trigger the formation of stars. This would tie back with the full, original image as the main subject of the image could have been a result of the mark. 

Marin believes that “...this exemplifies the human need for exploration and wonder, and…brings the question of how many other interesting objects are out there waiting to be explored with Webb”.

Though it may never be certain what the question mark is exactly, it still goes to show how much more we do not know about space. This image and many more taken by space telescopes demonstrate how there are so many small components to the universe we have yet to discover.