Scientists say the question-mark-shaped structure seen in a new photo from the James Webb Space Telescope is likely the merger of two or more galaxies. (J. DePasquale / NASA, ESA, CSA,) ...

That question mark, our profound cosmic ignorance, is one of the great gifts of science. Dennis Overbye joined The Times in 1998, and has been a reporter since 2001.

NASA got a closer look at a cosmic question mark previously spotted by the James Webb Space Telescope. NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, V. Estrada-Carpenter (Saint Mary's University).

A cosmic question mark appears amid a powerful gravitational lens in the James Webb Space Telescope’s wide-field view of the galaxy cluster MACS-J0417.5-1154. webbtelescope.