Newsletter

James Webb Space Telescope reveals oldest pictures of galaxies – BBC News

  • Jonathan Amos
  • BBC science reporter

3 hours ago

This picture doesn’t seem to have much to show. It’s just a cluster of bright red dots with the strange name JADES-GS-z13-0.

But this faint image, taken by the James Webb Space Telescope, is the “farthest galaxy” ever confirmed by internationally standardized measurement methods.

This image of a constellation took place 325 million years after the Big Bang.

If the universe is 13.8 billion years old, that means we’re looking at JADES-GS-z13-0. When this universe was only 2% of its current age.

The light from this constellation took a long time to reach us.

“I am so proud and grateful to be part of this moment,” said Dr Emma Curtis-Lake, who was part of an international team that published details of the findings on Friday.

Previously, the Hubble Space Telescope was used before the James Webb Space Telescope. He has discovered the “farthest galaxy” called GN-z11. This galaxy is a little closer to us. It happened while the universe was only about 400 million years old.

But the important thing is The baton has now been passed from Hubble to James Webb. From a great telescope to the next big telescope As scientists try to trace the earliest times when stars formed,

In fact, NASA has recently used the James Webb Space Telescope US space agency Its main objective is to find the first stars to shine in this universe.

JADES-GS-z13-0 Not of that time But we’re getting closer every second. But there was a question. No distant galaxies have been reported. JADES-GS-z13-0 From observations by the James Webb Space Telescope last summer?

The history of space

The answer is “maybe” and this uncertainty depends on the differences in the techniques used to determine the distance.

Astronomers use the word “redshift” for distance

It uses a method to measure wavelengths that stretch light as it travels from distant galaxies.

The distance will be further If there is a lot of stretching This makes the redshift number even higher (Galaxy JADES has a redshift number of 13.2, which is what the name suggests).

Scientists have studied many aspects. help make this assessment more accurate as well It includes the brightness and color of the subject studied using a few specific filters in the camera, and this technique is called metering.

Webb and Hubble

Different galactic bands, or “slits,” can be brightened or darkened in different filters, and can be an indication of their distance.

This is just a guide. But it is not always possible to believe.

If there is a lot of dust in a galaxy it can make the subject appear red. and further than it is

To measure the most accurate Astronomers tend to use more spectral analysis tools. which is a more detailed technique The components of the light signal are separated into different wavelengths.

This allows them to better locate “rifts” within the spectrum of the galaxy. You can also see the emission lines of elements such as hydrogen, oxygen and neon.

Comparison of measured wavelengths with wavelengths obtained in laboratory experiments. helps identify that directly how much light is stretched The same is true for redshift and distance.

JADES-GS-z13-0 and GN-z11 were confirmed with a spectrum analyzer. which is an international standard method The higher redshifts seen in reports over the past few months have been attributed to light gauges.

This is a tough job all around. The target is very vague. even on the James Webb camera and its huge 6.5 meter wide mirror

Curtis-Lake Dr And her colleague JADES (JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey) spent hours collecting pieces of images at the Hub Space Telescope. The original Ble can see

“It’s an amazing piece of sky. It’s the equivalent of seeing the Queen’s eyes on a pound piece held at arm’s length,” said Dr Rensk Smit of Liverpool John Moores University. Webb sees tens of thousands of galaxies.”

JADES field

image source, NASA, ESA, CSA, M. Zamani, JADES COLLABORATION

heading,

JADES has made observations that the Hubble Space Telescope has made before. but studied more deeply

this new space telescope has a near-infrared light spectrum sensor installed. The European Space Agency’s powerful near-infrared spectrometer (NIRSpec) is also included, and NIRSpec’s job is to thoroughly analyze weak light signals.

It will be a means of choosing objects to study. In that patch of sky the team selected 250 promising objects, four of which turned out to be very distant galaxies.

by far JADES-GS-z13-0 The nearest part are JADES-GS-z12-0, JADES-GS-z11-0 and JADES-GS-z10-0

NIRSpec

image source, ATMOSPHERE

heading,

NIRSpec is a significant European contribution to the James Webb project.

“The James Webb Space Telescope was built to do this work. and the NIRSpec instrument built by the European Space Agency. It is at its core,” said Professor Mark McCorn, senior scientific adviser to the European Space Agency.

“Finding the ‘first light’ in the universe requires a big, cool space telescope. and has a light-sensitive infrared camera to find out what might be in the faint galaxies that formed 200-300 million years after the Big Bang.”

“But there is a lot of hay. Although there are so few needles available, you need to consider a number of options. Take the little light obtained from each option and convert it into a spectrum. and use a tracer to see if Is this the correct distance and age? Because it can efficiently monitor hundreds of targets at the same time, NIRSpec enables the application of cosmic magnetism to those haystacks,” he told BBC News.