Unveiling the Universe's First Light with the James Webb Space Telescope

Sunday - July 9 2023, 14:53 UTC - 1 year ago

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has revealed some surprising findings about the early universe in its first year of cosmological observations. JWST has enabled unprecedentedly clear observations of stars, planets and galaxies both in and out of our own galaxy. Observations have included discovering galaxies more massive than predicted by models, as well as observing the light of quasars and their host galaxies for the first time.

After the James Webb Space Telescope’s .

first year in service, astronomers .

are awash in new observations that .

iluminate the oldest stars and galaxies.

In its first year on the job, NASA’s .

James Webb Space Telescope has .

performed in ways that can only be .

described as stellar.

Launched at the tail end of 2021 .

after years of delays, the observatory .

— NASA’s largest and most expensive .

space telescope to date — has been .

living up to its hype. Last July, the .

public got a first look at the telescope’s .

power, when astronomers released one .

of the first images taken by the .

observatory, showing a cluster of .

spinning galaxies, each one captured .

in spectacular, luminous detail from .

4.6 billion light years away.

Since then, JWST has peeled back more .

layers of cosmic dust to reveal stars, .

planets, galaxies, and other .

astrophysical structures with .

unprecedented clarity, both in our .

immediate galaxy and out to the .

farthest, earliest moments in time.

JWST recently hit its one-year .

anniversary, and scientists marked the .

milestone this week with a five-day .

conference at MIT dubbed "First Light." .

The meeting brought together more .

than 150 astronomers from around .

the world, many of whom have .

worked directly with JWST data, .

looking for signs of the universe’s .

earliest light. The meeting included a .

public event at the MIT Museum, where .

astronomers shared their experiences .

of working with the telescope. Conference .

organizer Anna-Christina Eilers, a .

Pappalardo Fellow in MIT’s Kavli .

Institute for Astrophysics and Space .

Research, gave MIT News some .

highlights of what astronomers have .

learned in JWST’s first year of .

observations, and what more the .

telescope could reveal in the coming .

years.

JWST's mirror is the largest space .

telescope ever flown, consisting of 18 .

hexagonal mirror segments that .

combine to form a 6.5-meter diameter.

JWST's instruments can detect light .

across a long range of near- and mid- .

infrared wavelengths, allowing .

astronomers to detect much fainter .

objects than those that can be seen .

with the Hubble Space Telescope. Despite .

its impressive size and powerful .

instruments, JWST can only observe .

objects in the visible and near-infrared .

portions of the spectrum.

JWST's data has led to discoveries of .

galaxies more massive than predicted in .

models of galaxy evolution over cosmic .

time. JWST has enabled astronomers to .

observe the light of quasars and their .

host galaxies for the first time.

JWST was successfully deployed around .

Earth by the European Space Agency's .

Ariane 5 rocket in 2021.