Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science (CEERS) Survey (NIRCam Image)

Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science (CEERS) Survey (NIRCam Image)

Stare deeply at this vast landscape. It was stitched together from multiple images captured by the James Webb Space Telescope in near-infrared light – and it is practically pulsing with activity.

To the right of center is a clump of bright white spiral galaxies that seem to be twisting into one another. Threaded throughout the scene are light pink spirals that look like pinwheels twirling in the wind. The bright foreground stars, set off in blue, announce themselves with Webb’s prominent eight-pointed diffraction spikes. Don’t miss an unconventional sight: In the bottom row, find the square second from far right. At its right edge, a misshapen blue galaxy is outfitted in blue-and-pink sparkling star clusters.

There is so much detail to explore in this panoramic vista, known as the Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science (CEERS) Survey. The galaxies that first caught the eyes of the researchers are those that haven’t appeared in any other images – Webb was the first to reveal their presence.

To find them, seek the tiniest, reddest dots speckled throughout this survey. The light from some of them has traveled for over 13 billion years to reach the telescope. The team followed up to obtain spectra with Webb, which led to the discovery of the most distant active supermassive black hole currently known, along with two more extremely distant active supermassive black holes that existed when the universe was only 1 billion years old. The additional studies also confirmed that eleven galaxies existed when the universe was only 470 to 675 million years. (Read about seven of these extremely distant galaxies.)

Want to be wowed again? Webb spent under an hour capturing each image in this field. Combined, they show off about 100,000 galaxies.

The CEERS Survey has already proven to researchers that Webb will help us learn an incredible amount about the early universe. “Galaxies appear earlier and in higher numbers than any of our predictions estimated,” said program lead Steven Finkelstein of the University of Texas at Austin. “There are so many new mysteries to explore.”

This field is one of Webb’s first observations, which is why we still know so little about it. Read more about what researchers will continue to seek in CEERS images and data.

Credits

Image

NASA, ESA, CSA, Steve Finkelstein (UT Austin), Micaela Bagley (UT Austin), Rebecca Larson (UT Austin)

Image Processing

Alyssa Pagan (STScI)

About The Object
Object Name CEERS Survey, Extended Groth Strip
Object Description Deep field survey
R.A. Position 14:19:46
Dec. Position +52:53:37
Constellation Boötes
Dimensions Image is about 23 arcminutes across.
About The Data
Data Description This image was created with Webb data from proposal: (S. Finkelstein).
Instrument NIRCam
Exposure Dates 20-21 Dec 2022, 24 Dec 2022
Filters F115W, F150W, F200W, F277W, F356W, F444W
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+F150W Green: F200W + F277W Red: F356W + F444W
Compass Image About 100,000 galaxies appear in this thin horizontal view. Webb’s images are stitched together. The coverage isn’t continuous, so the areas in between Webb’s images are black. About 20 square images were taken to form this mosaic. There is a significant black region at the middle left and top right, both about three squares wide. The other images are stitched together at various angles, none perfectly matched up. In Webb’s images, there are many overlapping objects at various distances. They include large, blue foreground stars, some with all eight diffraction spikes, white and pink spiral and elliptical galaxies, and many tiny red dots throughout. In the bottom row, at the edge of the square second from far right is a blue vertical oval that has bright pink regions and many blue dots throughout.
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
  • Proposal: A description of the observations, their scientific justification, and the links to the data available in the science archive.
  • Science Team: The astronomers who planned the observations and analyzed the data. "PI" refers to the Principal Investigator.
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.

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