Webb Space Telescope spots early galaxies hidden from Hubble


PTI, Nov 18, 2022, 8:56 AM IST

Credit: Twitter/@NASAWebb

Cape Canaveral: NASA’s Webb Space Telescope is finding bright, early galaxies that until now were hidden from view, including one that may have formed a mere 350 million (35 crore) years after the cosmic-creating Big Bang.

Astronomers said on Thursday that if the results are verified, this newly-discovered throng of stars would beat the most distant galaxy identified by the Hubble Space Telescope, a record-holder that formed 400 million (40 crore) years after the universe began.

Launched last December as a successor to Hubble, the Webb telescope is indicating stars may have formed sooner than previously thought — perhaps within a couple million years of creation.

Webb’s latest discoveries were detailed in the Astrophysical Journal Letters by an international team led by Rohan Naidu of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. The article elaborates on two exceptionally bright galaxies, the first thought to have formed 350 million years after the Big Bang and the other 450 million (45 crore) years after.

Naidu said more observations are needed in the infrared by Webb before claiming a new distance record-holder.

Although some researchers report having uncovered galaxies even closer to the creation of the universe 13.8 billion (1,380 crore) years ago, those candidates have yet to be verified, scientists stressed at a NASA news conference. Some of those could be later galaxies mimicking earlier ones, they noted.

”This is a very dynamic time,” said Garth Illingworth of the University of California, Santa Cruz, a co-author of the article published on Thursday. ”There have been lots of preliminary announcements of even earlier galaxies, and we are still trying to sort out as a community which ones of those are likely to be real.”

Tommaso Treu of the University of California, Los Angeles, a chief scientist for Webb’s early release science programme, said the evidence presented so far ”is as solid as it gets” for the galaxy believed to have formed 350 million years after the Big Bang.

If the findings are verified and more early galaxies are out there, Naidu and his team wrote that Webb ”will prove highly successful in pushing the cosmic frontier all the way to the brink of the Big Bang”.

”When and how the first galaxies formed remains one of the most intriguing questions,” they said in their paper.

NASA’s Jane Rigby, a project scientist with Webb, noted that these galaxies ”were hiding just under the limits of what Hubble could do”.

”They were right there waiting for us,” she told reporters. ”So that is a happy surprise that there are lots of these galaxies to study.” The USD 10 billion observatory — the world’s largest and most powerful telescope ever sent into space — is in a solar orbit that is one million miles (1.6 million kilometres) from Earth. Full science operations began over the summer and NASA has since released a series of dazzling snapshots of the universe.

Udayavani is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel and stay updated with the latest news.

Top News

Wanted to kill Ajmal Kasab who caused so much of pain, recalls 26/11 terror attack victim

Two retired revenue officials among four arrested in land grabbing case in Jammu

Kerala govt to revise manual for junior doctors, house surgeons

State can interfere with religious practices if they impede development, equality rights: SC

Four cheers at MP’s Kuno park; cheetah Neerva gives birth to cub quartet

HC directs Delhi govt to appoint ex-officio members to state mental health authority

‘Challenge after 44 years’: Supreme Court junks pleas against ‘socialist’, ‘secular’ in Preamble

Related Articles More

Rapid digital expansion to create over 1 lakh new jobs in fiber tech in India in next 5 years

National Consumer Helpline to roll out AI-based features, partners with 1,000 firms

BTS2024: If India can make rocket sensors, it can also make car sensors, says ISRO chief Somanath

World COPD Day: Know your lung function

SpaceX successfully launches ISRO’s 4,700 kg communication satellite from US

MUST WATCH

Coconut Flower

Prakash Belawadi

Naxal Leader Vikram Gowda

Christmas Cake Fruit Mixing

DK Shivakumar


Latest Additions

Wanted to kill Ajmal Kasab who caused so much of pain, recalls 26/11 terror attack victim

Two retired revenue officials among four arrested in land grabbing case in Jammu

Kerala govt to revise manual for junior doctors, house surgeons

State can interfere with religious practices if they impede development, equality rights: SC

Four cheers at MP’s Kuno park; cheetah Neerva gives birth to cub quartet

Thanks for visiting Udayavani

You seem to have an Ad Blocker on.
To continue reading, please turn it off or whitelist Udayavani.