James Webb Space Telescope Uncovers 717 Ancient Galaxies in Early Universe
An astounding revelation has been made by the James Webb Space Telescope, as it has uncovered the initial light that permeated the early Universe. The telescope has brought to light numerous archaic galaxies that could potentially be some of the earliest to have ever existed in the universe. This discovery marks a substantial advancement from the limited number of galaxies that were previously acknowledged during that era.
According to a new study by the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES), these very young galaxies showed complex structures and star formation just 600 million years after the Big Bang. In the study, observations were collected from two small areas of the sky, one of which was from the Vähäkärje constellation and the other from the direction of the Fornax cluster. More than 700 young galaxies were found in these regions, providing a glimpse of what the cosmos looked like in its early stages, reports space.com.
Kevin Hainline, assistant research professor at the Steward Observatory, provided a startling and awe-inspiring description. He said it’s like witnessing the first five minutes of a movie representing the entire universe! These galaxies are responsible for producing the elements and complexity we see in the world today, space.com reports.
This discovery sheds light on the formation of the first galaxies and stars, leading to a diverse list of elements in the universe today.
In the first five minutes, when the universe was estimated to be between 370 and 650 million years old, Hainline and his colleagues identified 717 young galaxies. These galaxies were larger and more structured than previously observed, challenging the notion that early galaxies were just blobs.
The studied regions, known as GOODS-South, have been extensively studied by various space telescopes, including the Hubble Space Telescope, the Chandra X-Ray Observatory and Spitzer. Surprisingly, 93 percent of the newly discovered galaxies detected by the Webb telescope had never been seen before.
The study also looks at an era known as the Reionization Epoch, which occurred about 400,000 years after the Big Bang. This phase involved so-called first-generation stars that were significantly larger and brighter than our Sun and emitted ultraviolet radiation that re-ionized the universe. Previous theories suggested that supermassive black holes could have played a crucial role in this process.
Another team in the JADES program focused on galaxies that existed between 500 and 850 million years after the Big Bang. These galaxies showed signs of intense star formation and emitted extreme line signatures in their spectra. This indicated that early stars were the primary agents responsible for cosmic reionization.
The researchers found that early galaxies experienced bursts of star formation followed by periods of inactivity. These bursts, during which massive stars were formed, played a crucial role in the ionization of hydrogen in the early universe.
In short, the findings of the James Webb Space Telescope provide a remarkable picture of the formation of ancient galaxies, the evolution of the universe, and the central role of early stars in shaping cosmic history.
