March 29, 2024

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NASA's James Webb Telescope (JWST) has discovered a 13.5 billion-year-old galaxy, which is now the oldest universe seen by human eyes.  The galaxy, called GLASS-z13 (GN-z13), formed just 300 million years after the Big Bang 13.8 billion years ago.

James Webb discovered the oldest galaxy in the universe – a system of stars 13.5 billion years old

James Webb discovered the oldest galaxy in the universe – a system of stars 13.5 billion years old that formed 300 million years after the Big Bang

  • James Webb discovered a 13.5 billion year old galaxy called GN-z13
  • This galaxy formed only 300 million years after the Big Bang, which occurred 13.8 billion years ago
  • The previous record holder, discovered by the Hubble telescope in 2015, was GN-z11 dating back 400 million years after the birth of the universe.

NASA’s James Webb Telescope (JWST) has discovered a 13.5 billion-year-old galaxy, which is now the oldest universe seen by human eyes.

The galaxy, called GLASS-z13 (GN-z13), formed just 300 million years after the Big Bang 13.8 billion years ago.

The previous record holder, discovered by the Hubble telescope in 2015, was GN-z11 dating back 400 million years after the birth of the universe.

JWST captured a look at the GN-z13 using a Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) device, It is able to detect life from the oldest stars and galaxies.

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While investigating the area near GN-z13, JWST also observed GN-z11 and scientists from the Harvard and Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Massachusetts noted that both galaxies are very small, new world reports.

GN-z13 is about 1,600 light-years across and GLASS z-11 spans 2,300 light-years.

This is compared to our own Milky Way, which is about 100,000 light-years across.

The paper published in arXivnotes that both galaxies have the mass of a billion suns, noting that this is because they formed shortly after the Big Bang.

While investigating the region near GN-z13 (top), JWST also observed GN-z11 (bottom) and scientists from the Harvard and Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Massachusetts note that both galaxies are very small.

While investigating the region near GN-z13 (top), JWST also observed GN-z11 (bottom) and scientists from the Harvard and Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Massachusetts note that both galaxies are very small.

The previous record holder, discovered by the Hubble telescope in 2015, is GN-z11 (pictured) dating back 400 million years after the birth of the universe

The previous record holder, discovered by the Hubble telescope in 2015, is GN-z11 (pictured) dating back 400 million years after the birth of the universe

The team suggests that this happened when galaxies were growing and devouring stars in the region.

The researchers shared in the research paper: “These two objects are already setting new constraints on the evolution of galaxies in the era of cosmic dawn.

They point out that the discovery of GNz11 was not just a matter of good fortune, but that it is likely that a group of ultraviolet-luminous sources with very high star-forming efficiency is capable of assembling.

Gabriel Brammer of the Niehls Bohr Institute in Denmark, part of the GLASS team and co-discoverer of GN-z11, told New Scientist that further analysis will be needed to confirm the distance to the two galaxies.

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“They are very compelling candidates,” he says. We were pretty sure that the James Webb space planet would see distant galaxies. But we were a little surprised by how easy it was to spot them.

Brammer made headlines this week when he released a never-before-seen photo taken by JWST.

The research paper notes that both galaxies have the mass of a billion suns, noting that this is because they formed shortly after the Big Bang.  In the photo the locations of the galaxies

The research paper notes that both galaxies have the mass of a billion suns, noting that this is because they formed shortly after the Big Bang. In the photo the locations of the galaxies

More analysis is needed to confirm the distance to the two galaxies, said Gabriel Brammer, part of the GLASS team and co-discoverer of GN-z11.  Brammer made headlines this week when he released a never-before-seen photo by JWST (pictured)

More analysis is needed to confirm the distance to the two galaxies, said Gabriel Brammer, part of the GLASS team and co-discoverer of GN-z11. Brammer made headlines this week when he released a never-before-seen photo by JWST (pictured)

The astronomer has shared a stunning image of the spiral arms of the “imaginary galaxy,” officially known as NGC 628 or Messier 74.

Webb captured the image of NGC 628 on July 17 and sent the data back to Earth where it is stored in the Barbara Mikulski Archives for Space Telescopes (MAST), which is open to the public.

Brammer’s photo caught the attention of astronomers and other space enthusiasts, who wanted to learn more about how the image was made and what they were looking at.

“For a bit more context,” Brammer wrote, “the purple cast here is actually ‘real’ in the sense that emissions from interstellar cigarette smoke (PAH particles) make the filters used for the blue and red channels brighter relative to the green.” in a tweet.

James Webb Telescope

The James Webb Telescope has been described as a “time machine” that could help unlock the secrets of our universe.

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The telescope will be used to look at the first galaxies born in the early universe more than 13.5 billion years ago, and observe the sources of stars, exoplanets and even the moons and planets of our solar system.

The huge telescope, which has already cost more than $7 billion (£5 billion), is the successor to the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope.

The James Webb Telescope and most of its instruments have a temperature of about 40 K – about minus 387 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 233 degrees Celsius).

It is the largest and most powerful orbiting space telescope in the world, 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 a successor to Hubble rather than a replacement, as the two will be working alongside each other 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 the Earth at about 17,000 miles per hour (27,300 kilometers per hour) in low Earth orbit at an altitude of about 340 miles.