James Webb Telescope Captures Deep View Of Ancient Galaxies
The new image took the world's most powerful telescope more than 120 hours to capture, making it the longest Webb has ever focused on a single target.
It is also "Webb's deepest gaze on a single target to date", the European Space Agency (ESA) said in a statement, making the image one of the deepest ever captured of the cosmos.
At the bright centre of the image is a massive cluster of galaxies called Abell S1063, which is 4.5 billion light years from Earth.
But it is not the true target.
Such huge celestial objects can bend the light of things behind them, creating a kind of magnifying glass called a gravitational lens.
Therefore the "warped arcs" spinning around the Abell S1063 are what really interest scientists, the ESA said in a statement.
Because looking into distant space also means looking back in time, scientists hope to learn how the first galaxies formed during a period known as the Cosmic Dawn, when the universe was only a few million years old.
The image includes nine separate shots of different near-infrared wavelengths of light, the ESA said.
Since coming online in 2022, the Webb telescope has ushered in a new era of scientific breakthroughs.
It has also revealed that galaxies in the early universe are far bigger than scientists expected, leading some to suspect there might be something wrong with our understanding of the cosmos.
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Time of India
a day ago
- Time of India
Will asteroid 99942 Apophis hit Earth? Here's what NASA says
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'You would expect, normally, some kind of chest thumping," said Kirshner, a Harvard emeritus professor. The leading Chinese astronomer and his institute, a national research organization that appears to be in charge of the telescope, didn't return requests for comment for this article. If China is building the big scope, that raises another question. 'Why the hell are they doing that?" said Matt Mountain, head of the nonprofit organization that manages observatories, as well as the Hubble and James Webb space telescopes, for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Mountain has two hypotheses. First, astronomical advances benefit both scientific and military purposes, as astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson highlighted in his book 'Accessory to War." Huge telescopes can look at military satellites, not just stars and planets. The second hypothesis: Beijing is investing in astronomy to inspire children to enter the sciences—so it can surpass the U.S. in a couple of decades. 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Earth's curvature means each hemisphere offers different views. Kirshner got a reprieve in mid-July. A Senate spending committee recommended minimal cuts to the NSF, and said it supported both the Magellan project and Kirshner's Thirty Meter Telescope. Kirshner called on Congress to endorse what he called a 'vigorous response to China's efforts." Write to Stu Woo at
India.com
22-07-2025
- India.com
Giant Mysterious Circles In Saudi Desert Baffle Internet – What's Going On Beneath The Sand?
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