A cosmic object in the shape of a glowing question mark has photobombed one of the latest images captured by NASA맥스카지노�s James Webb Space Telescope 맥스카지노� and scientists think they know what it might be.The original near-infrared image, released July 26, depicted a pair of young stars named Herbig-Haro 46/47. Found 1,470 light-years away in the Vela constellation within the Milky Way galaxy, the stars are still actively forming and closely orbiting each other.The two have been observed and studied by space and ground-based telescopes since the 1950s, but the highly sensitive Webb telescope allowed for the highest-resolution and most detailed image yet. It has the capacity to observe the universe with longer wavelengths of light than other space telescopes.The Webb telescope illuminates information about the origins of our universe, but the appearance of this mysterious object in the background of this image leaves more questions than answers. The cosmic question mark hasn맥스카지노�t been closely observed or studied, so scientists aren맥스카지노�t exactly sure about the object맥스카지노�s origins and makeup.But they do have a few ideas based on its shape and location.맥스카지노�The very first thing you can rule out is that it맥스카지노�s a star in the Milky Way,맥스카지노� said Matt Caplan, assistant professor of physics at Illinois State University. 맥스카지노�Stars always have these really big spikes, and that맥스카지노�s because stars are point-like. It맥스카지노�s called diffraction from basically the edges of the mirrors and the struts that support the sort of camera in the middle.맥스카지노�The Webb telescope usually allows you to see six or eight stellar 맥스카지노�prongs맥스카지노� if you look closely, Caplan added. 맥스카지노�It tells you immediately that it맥스카지노�s not a star,맥스카지노� he said of the question-mark-shaped phenomenon.It could be a merger of two galaxies that, at probably billions of light-years away, are much farther away than Herbig-Haro 46/47, said Christopher Britt, education and outreach scientist in the office of public outreach at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which manages the Webb telescope맥스카지노�s science operations.There are 맥스카지노�many, many galaxies outside of our own Milky Way,맥스카지노� Britt said. 맥스카지노�This looks like the kind of thing that you get fairly frequently 맥스카지노� as galaxies grow and evolve over cosmic time 맥스카지노� which is that they sometimes collide with their near neighbors.맥스카지노�And when that happens, they can get distorted into all kinds of different shapes 맥스카지노� including a question mark, apparently.맥스카지노�Cosmic questionsIt is likely the first time this specific object has been seen, experts said, but the merging of galaxies into a question mark-like shape has happened before 맥스카지노� including a backward version formed by the Antennae Galaxies in the Corvus constellation. Additionally, most galaxies have had multiple interactions such as this over the course of their history, Britt said, but they don맥스카지노�t last very long.맥스카지노�There맥스카지노�s no way to nail anything down (in) space,맥스카지노� Caplan said. 맥스카지노�The sun is moving as it orbits the galaxy, and the galaxy, being made of stars, is moving whichever direction gravity pulls it.맥스카지노�This integration is also the eventual destiny of our own galaxy, which will merge with the Andromeda galaxy in about 4 billion years, Britt said 맥스카지노� but the shape they맥스카지노�ll take is unknown.The question mark shape could also be 맥스카지노�indicative of a merger where these two galaxies are interacting gravitationally,맥스카지노� Britt said. 맥스카지노�That hook of the question mark on the top looks a lot, to me, like what we call a tidal tail, where the stream of stars and gas has been kind of ripped off and has flown out into space.맥스카지노�Gathering more spectroscopic data about the object would reveal more details such as its distance and chemical compositions, Britt and Caplan said.맥스카지노�Nobody맥스카지노�s going to do this, though, because this is very much 맥스카지노�a local man finds a chicken tender that looks like George Washington,맥스카지노�맥스카지노� Caplan said. 맥스카지노�But there (are) observations you could make if you were motivated enough.맥스카지노�