The James Webb Space Telescope continues to come of age without slowing down. The Webb telescope has made another fascinating discovery, detecting the most distant and faintest galaxy ever recorded, called JD1.JD1 is seen today as 13.3 billion years ago, when the universe was only four percent of its current age. Therefore, the detection of JD1 is considered an important discovery for understanding the evolution of the universe in the first years after the Big Bang. That’s why researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) care about the faintest known and observed galaxy. “Before the Webb telescope was launched just a year ago, we could not have dreamed of confirming such a faint galaxy,” said study co-author Tommaso Treu in a press release.
looking back in time
Scientists study the early years of the universe using cosmic light, which travels millions of years to reach us. Especially the first billion years of the universe have been arousing curiosity among astronomers for a long time because what is known about that period is extremely limited.
It has long been accepted that the universe emerged after the Big Bang, about 13.8 billion years ago. But the early universe experienced a period of total darkness after the Big Bang known as the cosmic Dark Ages, meaning there wasn’t the abundant light situation we’ve always known. This period, which lasted about a billion years, was devoid of light sources. During this time, the universe was covered with “neutral hydrogen fog, which traps the light of the first stars and galaxies.” And almost a billion years after the Big Bang, this fog mysteriously began to dissipate.This marked the Age of Reionization, which led to the formation of the first stars and galaxies. Using the power of Webb, astronomers are just beginning to understand this surprising yet fascinating period.
JD1 is not the only one
Guido Roberts-Borsani, lead author of the study, said: “Many of the galaxies found with JWST so far were bright galaxies, which are rare and not thought to represent particularly young galaxies populating the early universe. So they are the main factors that, while important, are burning all this hydrogen fog. “On the other hand, ultra-dim galaxies like JD1 are much more numerous, so we believe they better represent galaxies undergoing the reionization process and allow ultraviolet light to travel unhindered through space and time.” said.Webb’s near-infrared spectrograph instrument NIRSpec was used to obtain the infrared light spectrum of this galaxy. The data also revealed many important details about this distant galaxy, such as the number of stars, the amount of dust and heavy elements. The study was published in the prestigious journal Nature.
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