In an incredible achievement for the exploration of the Early Universe, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has reached a new frontier. The astronomers have announced the discovery of two of the most remote galaxies located less than 300 million years after the Big Bang. This development brings a promise to the analysis of galaxy and cosmic evolution within the Universe’s early age.
The JADES project reveals the galaxies from the very beginning and thus helps in enhancing the understanding of the universe
The JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES) has revealed the presence of galaxies JADES-GS-z14-0 and JADES-GS-z14-1 in a region surrounding the Hubble Ultra Deep Field. The former, which is the more remote of the two galaxies, sets a record – one that is 300 million years from the Big Bang – at least 100 million years anteceding previous record breakers.
In fact, this galaxy’s light took the longest time traveling across the space of 13.5 billion years and caught up with us at a period when the Universe was still quite young. The finding of these galaxies is key for ascertaining how the first stars, gas, and black holes were formed and matured in the young universe.
An astonishingly large and luminous galaxy discovered throws formational cosmology into a tailspin
The enormous size and luminosity of JADES-GS-z14-0 is among the most remarkable attributes of this galaxy. With a diameter stretching more than 1600 light-years, it is much more extensive than the many typical galaxies that were expected at such an early time in the universe. Many of these bright galaxies owe their luminosity to the presence of a vast black hole at their center, but this is not the case with JADES-GS-z14-0, where the light produced is mainly from the numerous young stars.
This finding goes against the existing theories of galaxy formation and further emphasizes the active and violent evolution of galaxies at a redshift zone. Dr. Stefano Carniani, one of the leaders in research in this field, said it was “amazing” that this type of galaxy can be formed in just 300 million years, a mere second in astronomical time.
Julie Webb telescope has revealed further ancient galaxies after improving its redshift range
Thanks to the Webb telescope’s ability to observe in infrared light it became possible to find those galaxies formed at the very early epochs of the Universe where the light is redshifted because of the expansion of the Universe.
Redshift denotes a phenomenon in which light waves get stretched when travelling across space resulting in a shift to the red side of the spectrum. This is the case for example with some remote galaxies like JADES-GS-z14-0 which redshift z = 14.32 means this galaxy formed around 300 million years from the Big Bang.
With this instrument, more times than before, astronomers can go back in history. The JWST high-resolution infrared imaging capabilities have thus allowed for the detection of even more galaxies from earlier epoch than what was thought, expanding the frontiers of knowledge on the early Universe.
The emergence of JADES-GS-z14-0 and JADES-GS-z14-1 opens horizons for the research of the young universe. Given that these two galaxies formed within about 300 million years after the Big Bang, they provide a historic insight into the processes that created and transformed the universe at its early times.
The exploration of such amazing redshifts by the JWST has only scratched the surface, and no doubt additional discoveries will be forthcoming that will expand our comprehension of how the Universe came into being. After every new finding, we are gain making progress in solving the riddle of the Universe.
