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Astronomers Discover Galaxies with JWST
Context:
Astronomers discovered two earliest and most distant galaxies, dating back 300 million years after the Big Bang, using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope.
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- Discoveries made by the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES) team from Harvard & Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics (CfA).
- The expansion of the universe causes distant galaxies’ light to stretch to longer wavelengths.
- Two galaxies, JADES-GS-z14-0 and JADES-GS-z14-1, are renowned for their distance, size, and brightness, making them the new distance record holder.
Key Highlights
- JADES-GS-z14-0:
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- The most distant known galaxy at a redshift of 14.32 (+0.08/-0.20).
- Light has travelled for billions of years, and shows the universe in its earliest state, 300 million years after the Big Bang.
- Characteristics: Large and bright, with light produced mainly by young stars, not a supermassive black hole.
- It provides evidence of rapid formation of massive galaxies early in the universe.
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- JADES-GS-z14-1:
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- Proximity: Slightly less distant than JADES-GS-z14-0.
- It offers insights into early cosmic conditions and processes.
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- Significance:
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- Redshift Impact: The expansion of the universe shifts ultraviolet light to infrared wavelengths, making JADES-GS-z14-0 and JADES-GS-z14-1 visible only to JWST.
- Due to the time it takes for light to travel, these galaxies are seen as they existed earlier in time.
- JWST Capability: JWST can observe this infrared light, revealing details about galaxy formation and evolution.
- The galaxy observed by the JWST Mid-Infrared Instrument in an ultra-deep observation field exhibits brightness at intermediate infrared wavelengths, indicating emission from hydrogen and oxygen atoms in the early universe.
- Challenge to Understanding: JADES-GS-z14-0’s existence 300 million years after the Big Bang challenges current theories on rapid galaxy formation.
- Redshift Impact: The expansion of the universe shifts ultraviolet light to infrared wavelengths, making JADES-GS-z14-0 and JADES-GS-z14-1 visible only to JWST.
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James Webb Space Telescope(JWST) Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES)
- Study galaxy evolution from high redshift to cosmic noon.
- Revolutionises cosmic views with infrared imaging and spectroscopy.
- Objective: Study the universe’s first light and early galaxy formation.
- Instruments Used: Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec), and Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI).
- Survey Coverage:
- Deep Fields: Hubble Deep Field (GOODS-N) and Hubble Ultra Deep Field (GOODS-S).
