James Webb Space Telescope tagged posts

Astronomers Confirm Maisie’s Galaxy is Among Earliest Ever Observed

Astronomers confirm Maisie's galaxy is among earliest ever observed
Spectroscopic observations reveal that Maisie’s galaxy, named after Steven Finkelstein’s daughter, was detected 390 million years after the Big Bang. That makes it one of the four earliest confirmed galaxies ever observed. Credit: NASA/STScI/CEERS/TACC/ University of Texas at Austin/S. Finkelstein/M. Bagley

Thanks to the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers racing to find some of the earliest galaxies ever glimpsed have now confirmed that a galaxy first detected last summer is in fact among the earliest ever found. The findings are published in the journal Nature.

Follow-up observations since first detection of Maisie’s galaxy have revealed that it is from 390 million years after the Big Bang...

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James Webb Space Telescope Captures Stunning Images of the Ring Nebula

Ring Nebula

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has recorded breath-taking new images of the iconic Ring Nebula, also known as Messier 57.

The images, released today by an international team of astronomers led by Professor Mike Barlow (UCL, UK) and Dr Nick Cox (ACRI-ST, France), with Professor Albert Zijlstra of The University of Manchester, showcase the nebula’s intricate and ethereal beauty in unprecedented detail, providing scientists and the public with a mesmerizing view of this celestial wonder.

For many sky enthusiasts, the Ring Nebula is a well-known object that is visible all summer long and is located in the constellation Lyra.

A small telescope will already reveal the characteristic donut-like structure of glowing gas that gave the Ring Nebula its name.

The Ring Nebula...

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Webb Reveals Early-Universe Prequel to Huge Galaxy Cluster

Various multi-color galaxies on a black background, with specific close-ups of 7 faint red galaxies in a column on right
The seven galaxies highlighted in this James Webb Space Telescope image have been confirmed to be at a distance that astronomers refer to as redshift 7.9, which correlates to 650 million years after the big bang. This makes them the earliest galaxies yet to be spectroscopically confirmed as part of a developing cluster.
Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, T. Morishita (IPAC). Image processing: A. Pagan (STScI)

Every giant was once a baby, though you may never have seen them at that stage of their development. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has begun to shed light on formative years in the history of the universe that have thus far been beyond reach: the formation and assembly of galaxies...

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New look at ‘Einstein Rings’ around distant Glaxies just got us Closer to Solving the Dark Matter Debate

ESA / Hubble & NASA
ESA / Hubble & NASA

A study using data from telescopes on Earth and in the sky resolves a problem plaguing astronomers working in the infrared and could help make better observations of the composition of the universe with the James Webb Space Telescope and other instruments. The work is published April 20 in Nature Astronomy.

“We’re trying to measure the composition of gases inside galaxies,” said Yuguang Chen, a postdoctoral researcher working with Professor Tucker Jones in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of California, Davis.

Most elements other than hydrogen, helium and lithium are produced inside stars, so the composition and distribution of heavier elements — especially the ratio of oxygen to hydrogen — can help astronomers understand how many and ...

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