New Findings of JWST

- May 13, 2023

In the previous post we have talk about the specifications and features of James Webb Space Telescope in detail. Today we are going to go deep in to the findings of the JWST. This is the first image released by James Webb Space Telescope also known as JWST. This is a near infrared image of galaxy cluster SMACS 0723.

The first image of JWST (Galaxy cluster SMACS 0723) (Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI)

There are thousands of galaxies in this image and also this image contains an effect called light warping gravitational lensing. The huge objects such as galaxies and dark matter near to Earth behaves like a magnifying glass and the object behind that appears magnified to the observer. In this image the objects with diffraction spikes are stars, and red or orange colored fainter galaxies are much further away from us and other blue colored galaxies are much closer to us.

Diffraction Spikes

James Webb Space Telescope can see these red shifted galaxies because it capturing the infrared wavelengths from the view and it helps to find the oldest galaxies in the universe that means looking right back at the beginning of the universe. This image covers only small fraction of the sky and it is like someone in the ground holding a grain of sand at arms length and looking at the sky.

JWST found the oldest ever galaxy recently within a week of starting the operation. This galaxy is known as GLASS-z13. This is calling as "GLASS" in the beginning of the name because it is from a publicly released JWST dataset which is called GLASS. This is dates back to 300 million years after the Big Bang. This is the image of GLASS-z13.

GLASS-z13 galaxy is the oldest known galaxy ever found

(Image Credits: NAIDU ET AL, P.OESCH, T.TREU, GLASS-JWST, NASA/CSA/ESA/STSCI and New Scientist Magazine 30th July 2022 Issue.)

The previously found oldest galaxy was found by Hubble Space Telescope and it is dates back to 400 million years after the big bang. And it was known as GN-z11. And also there was another second galaxy was found in this GLASS dataset by the same researches and it dates back to 400 million years.
That is called GLASS-z11. According to these researches done by using JWST data, it seems that stars formed more rapidly than we previously thought in the early universe. According to the size comparison of these findings, these early universe galaxies are very smaller compared to our milky way galaxy. GLASS-z13 is about 1600 light years across and GLASS-z11 is about 2300 light years across while our Milky Way galaxy is about 100000 light years across.

This is an image of the planet Jupiter which was taken by James Webb Space Telescope. This is not showing as it would looked like to the naked eye. The James Webb Space Telescope taken this image using Infrared camera. Different Infrared wavelengths have been mapped to different colours to highlight particular features of the image.

Planet Jupiter in infrared spectrum

(Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, JUPITER ERS TEAM/JUDY SCHMIDT
and New Scientist Magazine 3rd Sept 2022 Issue.)

The orange glow at the poles of the Jupiter represents the Jupiter's Auroras.

The green colour represents thin layer of high-altitude haze.

The blue color represents the main cloud layer.

The white colour represents the tops of storm areas in the Jupiter.

This following image shows the "Cosmic Cliffs" in the Carina Nebula. This is also known as NGC 3324 in the Carina Nebula and it is a young star forming region. This is 7600 light years away from us and it is a gigantic gaseous cavity. The Carina Nebula is the one of the brightest nebulas in the night sky.

"Cosmic Cliffs" in the Carina Nebula (NGC 3324)

(Image Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI)

The below image is taken using Near-infrared camera (NIRCam) of JWST. This is the Southern Ring Nebula and also called NGC 3132. This is 2000 light years away from us and it is a Planetary Nebula in the constellation Vela. A Planetary Nebula is a region of cosmic gases and dust produced by cast off outer layer of a dying red giant star.

The Southern Ring Nebula (NGC 3132)

(Image Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI)

The next image is the same object taken using Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) of JWST. Incredible amount of information was captured by this instrument and this revealed a new discovery. As you can see in the middle of the image there is another star in the left and it is a hot dense white dwarf star. It is in red color in the image. Previously it was a red giant and at this stage it is at the last stage and now it is a white dwarf star. In the previous image it was cloaked by its dust clouds. The blue color star on the right side is stir up the dust clouds ejected by the red colored star and due to that the red colored star in the image cannot be seen in the previous image. This is a binary star system.

The Southern Ring Nebula taken using Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) of JWST (NGC 3132)

(Image Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI)

The mid infrared light can only be observed from space and it is used to detect objects surrounded by dust clouds.

Following is the image of Stephan's Quintet. It is a visual grouping of five galaxies. This is situated in the constellation Pegasus. JWST's Mid Infrared Instrument captured huge shock waves as one of the galaxies, NGC 7318B smashes through the cluster. By these red and golden colors we can see the gas and dust which is heated up in the collision between those galaxies.