The James Webb Space Telescope has returned extraordinarily detailed images and spectra of galaxies that existed when the universe was only 900 million years old. “In Webb’s near-infrared image, we can see structures in every individual galaxy that the telescope detected,” shared Jorryt Matthee of ETH Zürich. “Webb is showing us the adventurous youth of these early galaxies.”
These galaxies look more chaotic than those in the nearby universe – they are clumpy and often elongated. These galaxies are also younger and are actively forming stars. The stars Webb detected are all more massive, which may lead to an abundance of colorful supernovae shooting off in these galaxies.
These results were announced by members of the Emission-line galaxies and Intergalactic Gas in the Epoch of Reionization (EIGER) team. Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) image and data known as spectra helped the team fully define 117 galaxies in this field.
Credits
Image
NASA, ESA, CSA, Simon Lilly (ETH Zurich), Daichi Kashino (Nagoya University), Jorryt Matthee (ETH Zurich), Christina Eilers (MIT), Rongmon Bordoloi (NCSU), Ruari Mackenzie (ETH Zurich)
Image Processing
Alyssa Pagan (STScI), Ruari Mackenzie (ETH Zurich)
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Description | Galaxy OIII Emitters |
| R.A. Position | 01:00:13.02 |
| Dec. Position | +28:02:25.8 |
| Constellation | Pisces |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | This image was created with Webb data from proposal: (S. Lilly) |
| Instrument | NIRCam |
| Exposure Dates | 22 Aug 2022 |
| Filters | F115W, F200W, F356W |
| About The Image | |
| Color Info | These images are a composite of separate exposures acquired by the James Webb Space Telescope using the NIRCam instrument. Several filters were used to sample wide wavelength ranges. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic (grayscale) image associated with an individual filter. In this case, the assigned colors are: Blue: F115W Green: F200W Red: F356W |
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | A name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object. |
| Object Description | The type of astronomical object. |
| R.A. Position | Right ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Dec. Position | Declination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Constellation | One of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears. |
| Distance | The physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs. |
| Dimensions | The physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky. |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description |
|
| Instrument | The science instrument used to produce the data. |
| Exposure Dates | The date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time. |
| Filters | The camera filters that were used in the science observations. |
| About The Image | |
| Image Credit | The primary individuals and institutions responsible for the content. |
| Publication Date | The date and time the release content became public. |
| Color Info | A brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented. |
| Orientation | The rotation of the image on the sky with respect to the north pole of the celestial sphere. |
