James Webb discovered spiral galaxies from the cosmic noon of the early universe
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has helped scientists unravel the mystery of spiral galaxies and has captured a detailed picture of many galaxies belonging to the early universe from a period known as the “cosmic noon”.
The period was between eight to 10 billion years ago when galaxies formed about half of their current stellar mass, making this group the most distant visible to the human eye.
While the Hubble Space Telescope and Spitzer Space Telescope have provided observations of these twisted clusters of stars and gas, JWST’s ability to capture incredible detail will allow scientists to understand their detailed shapes and properties.
One of the three galaxies observed by JWST is a negative spiral galaxy that does not generate new stars, and the discovery could reveal that this rare spiral galaxy is abundant throughout the universe.
While the Hubble Space Telescope and Spitzer Space Telescope have provided observations of these twisted clusters of stars and gas, JWST’s ability to capture incredible detail will allow scientists to understand their detailed shapes and properties.
Red spiral galaxies are rare, accounting for only 2% of galaxies in the local universe, and the color usually means that they formed in the early universe.
For this reason, astronomers search for these formations, hoping that they will tell us more secrets about the early universe.
Using JWST’s powerful mechanics, NASA hopes to reconstruct the star formation history of this galaxy that it believes formed billions of years ago – not long after the Big Bang.
JWST has captured three screws during deep space exploration: RS12, RS13, and RS14.
All in the field of SMACS 0723.
The morphology of spiral galaxies is of great interest because it “provides insight into the mechanism of galaxy formation, when observed through cosmic time,” according to scientists at Waseda University in Japan, who led the research.
“Particularly the question of when and where galactic morphology emerged in the early universe is still being researched.”
Using spectral energy distribution (SED) analysis, the researchers measured the energy distribution over a wide wavelength range of these galaxies.
The results revealed that the red spirals formed at least three billion years after the Big Bang, the moment the universe began.
Also, one of the detailed images shows a negative spiral galaxy, which contradicts the idea that all such formations in the early universe would be active.
By the passive voice, a team means that it is not forming new stars.
And JWST’s observation means there could be more lurking in the universe than previously thought.
“Overall, the results of this study greatly enhance our knowledge of red spiral galaxies, and the universe as a whole,” junior researcher Yoshinobu Fudamoto said in a statement.
Our study showed for the first time that negative spiral galaxies could be abundant in the early universe.
While this paper is an experimental study on spiral galaxies in the early universe, confirmation and expansion of this study will greatly influence our understanding of the formation and evolution of galactic shapes.
Two of the three galaxies are still generating new stars, while the third is passive – not forming new stars.
JWST has taken other images of spiral galaxies, with an image revealing the chaotic Cartwheel galaxy 489.2 million light-years from Earth.
Much like the shape of a wagon wheel, its appearance is caused by an extreme event — a high-speed collision between a large spiral galaxy and a smaller galaxy not visible in this image.
Other telescopes, including the Hubble Space Telescope, have examined the cartwheel previously.
But the dramatic galaxy was shrouded in mystery — perhaps literally, given the amount of dust obscuring the view.
JWST’s infrared capabilities mean it can ‘see past time’ within just 100 to 200 million years of the Big Bang, allowing it to take pictures of the first stars to shine in the universe more than 13.5 billion years ago.
JWST has taken other images of spiral galaxies, with an image revealing the chaotic Cartwheel galaxy 489.2 million light-years from Earth.
Its first images of nebulae, exoplanets and galaxy clusters sparked huge celebrations in the scientific world in what was hailed as the “great day of mankind”.
Researchers will soon begin to learn more about the masses, ages, histories and compositions of galaxies as the telescope seeks to explore the oldest galaxies in the universe.
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James Webb Telescope: NASA’s $10 billion telescope is designed to detect light from the oldest stars and galaxies
The James Webb Telescope has been described as a “time machine” that can help unlock the mysteries of our universe.
The telescope will be used to look at the first galaxies born in the early universe more than 13.5 billion years ago, observing the sources of stars, exoplanets, and even the moons and planets of our solar system.
The massive telescope, which has already cost more than $7 billion (£5 billion), is considered the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope.
The James Webb telescope and most of its instruments have a temperature of about 40 K — about minus 387 Fahrenheit (minus 233 Celsius).
It is the world’s largest and most powerful orbiting space telescope, capable of looking back 100-200 million years after the Big Bang.
The orbiting infrared observatory is designed to be about 100 times more powerful than its predecessor, the Hubble Space Telescope.
NASA likes to think of James Webb as Hubble’s successor rather than a replacement, as the two will be working in tandem for a while.
The Hubble telescope was launched on April 24, 1990, via the space shuttle Discovery from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
It orbits Earth at about 17,000 mph (27,300 kph) in a low Earth orbit at an altitude of about 340 miles.
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