Latest news with #COSMOSWeb
Daily Mail
12-06-2025
- Science
- Daily Mail
Scroll through the UNIVERSE: Incredible interactive map lets you explore nearly 800,000 galaxies - peering back as far as 13.5 billion years
Studying the depths of the universe usually involves billions of pounds of supercomputers, satellites, and telescopes. But a team of scientists has now made it possible for you to explore the cosmos from the comfort of your own home. Their incredible interactive map, dubbed COSMOS-Web, lets you scroll through almost 800,000 galaxies and peer back as far as 13.5 billion years. That means looking back through 98 per cent of cosmic time almost to the birth of the universe 13.8 billion years ago. Covering an area of sky about the same size as three full moons, this image combines more than 10,000 photographs from the James Webb Space Telescope. Professor Caitlin Casey, an astronomer at UC Santa Barbara who co-led the COSMOS collaboration, said: 'Our goal was to construct this deep field of space on a physical scale that far exceeded anything that had been done before. 'If you had a printout of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field on a standard piece of paper, our image would be slightly larger than a 13-foot by 13-foot-wide mural, at the same depth. 'So it's really strikingly large.' While the data for this map has existed for a while, it was previously in a raw form that needed expert analysis and a supercomputer to interpret. But over the last two years, an international team of scientists has worked to turn the data behind the largest map of the universe into something that anyone can use. In the stunning interactive map, at this link, you can zoom out to see hundreds of thousands of galaxies stretch across the sky or zoom in to reveal amazing details. Using the tools included in the map you can even dive deeper into the data by switching between different imaging tools. To learn even more, turn on catalogues using the tabs on the left-hand side and click on any galaxy to bring up a vast trove of data. The researchers have made this available to the public in the hopes that more people will be able to help dig into the data and unpick some of the universe's most puzzling questions. Professor Casey says: 'The best science is really done when everyone thinks about the same data set differently. 'It's not just for one group of people to figure out the mysteries.' Six galaxies hidden in the COSMOS-Web map as they were 3 billion, 4 billion, 8 billion, 9 billion and 10 billion years ago (from top left to bottom right). This period spans almost the entirety of cosmic history Nine galaxies in the map which span all of cosmic time, from upper left to lower right: the present day universe, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 billion years ago Already, this enormous set of data is helping scientists understand how galaxies formed at the beginning of time and challenging some basic assumptions in astronomy. Based on data from the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers expected galaxies to be extremely rare in the first 500 million years. This is because it takes a long time for stars to form under gravity and get pulled together into larger structures. But when the researchers looked back at the most distant reaches of the universe, they found there were about 10 times more galaxies than they expected to find. Professor Casey says: 'Since the telescope turned on we've been wondering 'Are these JWST datasets breaking the cosmological model?' 'Because the universe was producing too much light too early; it had only about 400 million years to form something like a billion solar masses of stars. We just do not know how to make that happen.' The map is so much more detailed than earlier efforts because of the size of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). While Hubble's main light-collecting was 7ft 10 inches (2.4m) across, the JWST's is a staggering 21ft (6.5m) wide. You can use the filters on the map to reveal more information about the universe By clicking on any galaxy you can pull up a huge amount of data collected by the James Webb Space Telescope That allows the telescope to collect the faintest traces of light coming from the furthest reaches of the galaxy. Dr Jeyhan Kartaltepe, associate professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology who co-leads COSMOS-Web, says: 'The sensitivity of JWST lets us see much fainter and more distant galaxies than ever before, so we're able to find galaxies in the very early universe and study their properties in detail.' Going forward the team behind COSMOS-Web still has a lot more work to do in order to unpack all the data hidden in the map. They plan to use the JWST spectrographic tools to identify the oldest galaxies in the image and learn more about the chemistry of these early stars. The Big Bang Theory is a cosmological model, a theory used to describe the beginning and the evolution of our universe. It says that the universe was in a very hot and dense state before it started to expand 13,7 billion years ago. This theory is based on fundamental observations. In 1920, Hubble observed that the distance between galaxies was increasing everywhere in the universe. This means that galaxies had to be closer to each other in the past. In 1964, Wilson and Penzias discovered the cosmic background radiation, which is a like a fossil of radiation emitted during the beginning of the universe, when it was hot and dense. The cosmic background radiation is observable everywhere in the universe. The composition of the universe - that is, the the number of atoms of different elements - is consistent with the Big Bang Theory. So far, this theory is the only one that can explain why we observe an abundance of primordial elements in the universe.
Economic Times
22-05-2025
- Science
- Economic Times
Astronomers observe largest ever sample of galaxies up to over 12 billion light years away: Study
The largest sample of galaxy groups ever detected has been presented by a team of international astronomers using data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) in an area of the sky called COSMOS Web. The study marks a major milestone in extragalactic astronomy, providing unprecedented insights into the formation and evolution of galaxies and the large-scale structure of the universe. Peering back in time to when the universe was younger than the Earth is now, the images span the period from around twelve billion years ago until one billion years new catalogue of images, soon to be published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics (A&A), includes nearly 1,700 galaxy research group's impressive image of a galaxy cluster over six billion light years away is currently showcased as the European Space Agency's (ESA) picture of the month. "We're able to actually observe some of the first galaxies formed in the universe," says Ghassem Gozaliasl of Aalto University, and head of the galaxy groups detection team who led the study."We detected 1,678 galaxy groups or proto-clusters -- the largest and deepest sample of galaxy groups ever detected -- with the James Webb Space Telescope. With this sample, we can study the evolution of galaxies in groups over the past 12 billion years of cosmic time," added Gozaliasl. The James Webb Space Telescope began operating in 2022. The largest telescope in space, with its higher resolution and greater sensitivity, has enabled astronomers to see farther and better than ever before. Because light travels at a finite speed, the further away an object is, the further back in time our image of it. By observing very faint, very distant galaxies -- the faintest galaxies in this dataset are one billion times dimmer than the human eye can see -- the team got a glimpse of what galaxies looked like in the early universe, Gozaliasl said. Gozaliasl explains that galaxy groups and clusters are rich environments filled with dark matter, hot gas, and massive central galaxies that often host supermassive black holes. "The complex interactions between these components play a crucial role in shaping the life cycles of galaxies and driving the evolution of the groups and clusters themselves. By uncovering a more complete history of these cosmic structures, we can better understand how these processes have influenced the formation and growth of both massive galaxies and the largest structures in the universe," added Gozaliasl.
Time of India
22-05-2025
- Science
- Time of India
Astronomers observe largest ever sample of galaxies up to over 12 billion light years away: Study
An international team of astronomers, utilizing the James Webb Space Telescope, has identified nearly 1,700 galaxy groups in the COSMOS Web area. This extensive catalogue provides unprecedented insights into galaxy formation and the universe's large-scale structure, spanning from twelve billion to one billion years ago. The findings allow scientists to study galaxy evolution within groups across vast cosmic time. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads The largest sample of galaxy groups ever detected has been presented by a team of international astronomers using data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) in an area of the sky called COSMOS study marks a major milestone in extragalactic astronomy , providing unprecedented insights into the formation and evolution of galaxies and the large-scale structure of the back in time to when the universe was younger than the Earth is now, the images span the period from around twelve billion years ago until one billion years new catalogue of images, soon to be published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics (A&A), includes nearly 1,700 galaxy research group's impressive image of a galaxy cluster over six billion light years away is currently showcased as the European Space Agency's (ESA) picture of the month."We're able to actually observe some of the first galaxies formed in the universe," says Ghassem Gozaliasl of Aalto University, and head of the galaxy groups detection team who led the study."We detected 1,678 galaxy groups or proto-clusters -- the largest and deepest sample of galaxy groups ever detected -- with the James Webb Space Telescope. With this sample, we can study the evolution of galaxies in groups over the past 12 billion years of cosmic time," added James Webb Space Telescope began operating in 2022. The largest telescope in space, with its higher resolution and greater sensitivity, has enabled astronomers to see farther and better than ever light travels at a finite speed, the further away an object is, the further back in time our image of it. By observing very faint, very distant galaxies -- the faintest galaxies in this dataset are one billion times dimmer than the human eye can see -- the team got a glimpse of what galaxies looked like in the early universe, Gozaliasl explains that galaxy groups and clusters are rich environments filled with dark matter , hot gas, and massive central galaxies that often host supermassive black holes."The complex interactions between these components play a crucial role in shaping the life cycles of galaxies and driving the evolution of the groups and clusters themselves. By uncovering a more complete history of these cosmic structures, we can better understand how these processes have influenced the formation and growth of both massive galaxies and the largest structures in the universe," added Gozaliasl.
