{"id":32567,"date":"2024-04-22T11:15:06","date_gmt":"2024-04-22T11:15:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/22\/did-james-webb-telescope-images-break-the-universe\/"},"modified":"2024-04-22T11:15:07","modified_gmt":"2024-04-22T11:15:07","slug":"did-james-webb-telescope-images-break-the-universe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/22\/did-james-webb-telescope-images-break-the-universe\/","title":{"rendered":"Did James Webb telescope images \u2018break\u2019 the universe?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1440\" height=\"810\" src=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/081223_galaxies_feat.jpg?fit=1440,810&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Did James Webb telescope images \u2018break\u2019 the universe?\" title=\"Did James Webb telescope images \u2018break\u2019 the universe?\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-component=\"video-embed\">\n<p>NASA\u2019s James Webb Space Telescope is raising big questions about the early universe.<\/p>\n<p>In its first images, JWST captured\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencenews.org\/article\/james-webb-telescope-six-galaxies-old\" rel=\"noopener\">what appeared to be huge galaxies in the ancient universe<\/a>. In fact, those galaxies looked much too big to fit scientists\u2019 current theory of how the universe grew up. This has raised some concerns that the history of the early universe needs to be rewritten.<\/p>\n<p>But a new look at old data from the Hubble Space Telescope tells another story. Perhaps JWST hasn\u2019t upended cosmology as much as some scientists feared. Instead, the huge-looking galaxies JWST saw <a href=\"https:\/\/journals.aps.org\/prl\/abstract\/10.1103\/PhysRevLett.132.061002\" rel=\"noopener\">may have simpler explanations<\/a>.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"sn-conversion rich-text alignright\"\/>\n<p>Researchers shared these findings in the February 9\u00a0<em>Physical Review Letters<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>JWST is giving us a new language to understand the early universe, says Julian Mu\u00f1oz. He\u2019s a cosmologist at the University of Texas at Austin. \u201cBefore we say, \u2018Hey, we need to throw away everything we knew in cosmology,\u2019 we should understand this language.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignwide size-full\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><span class=\"caption wp-caption-3130153\">Here, scientists at the University of Texas at Austin search for distant galaxies in the first deep-field image taken by the James Webb Space Telescope. Those data were released in July 2022.<\/span><span class=\"credit wp-credit-3130153\">Nolan Zunk\/Univ. of Texas at Austin<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u2018Universe breakers\u2019<\/h4>\n<p>The trouble began almost as soon as JWST\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/article\/james-webb-space-telescope-first-pictures-nasa-galaxies-stars-nebula\">first peered into the distant universe<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>When this telescope looks at distant objects, it sees those objects as they appeared far back in time. Why? Because the light from such far-off objects has taken so long to travel to Earth. So when JWST peers at the most distant cosmos, it sees things as they were shortly after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/article\/scientists-say-big-bang\">the Big Bang<\/a>.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"wp-block-sciencenews-inline-related-post alignleft\">\n<h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/article\/explainer-telescopes-see-light-and-sometimes-ancient-history\">Explainer: Telescopes see light \u2014 and sometimes ancient history<\/a><\/h4>\n<\/aside>\n<p>JWST\u2019s first views of such distant, ancient regions of space were confusing in two ways.<\/p>\n<p>First, some of its images contained huge numbers of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/article\/scientists-say-galaxy\">galaxies<\/a>. Far more, in fact, than astronomers thought possible so far back in time.<\/p>\n<p>Second, a handful of those galaxies appeared to be monstrously massive. These all dated back to the first 700 million years of the universe. And they were up to 100 times as heavy as scientists thought possible back then. For that reason, these galaxies were dubbed \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencenews.org\/article\/jwst-distant-galaxies-surprises-space\" rel=\"noopener\">universe breakers<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Our current understanding of how the universe grew up goes like this. First, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/article\/lets-learn-about-dark-matter\">dark matter<\/a> collapsed into giant clumps known as halos. This happened within the first few hundred million years after the Big Bang. The halos\u2019 gravity then pulled in normal matter. This eventually formed stars and galaxies.<\/p>\n<p>This would have taken time. Matter would have clumped together slowly, eventually building up larger and larger galaxies. If true, the jumbo galaxies that JWST spied so soon after the Big Bang shouldn\u2019t be possible.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image  has-aligncenter\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"680\" height=\"455\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/081223_galaxies_inline4.jpg\" alt=\"Six distant galaxies (red dots, above) spotted by the Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science, or CEERS.\" class=\"wp-image-3130158\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/081223_galaxies_inline4.jpg 680w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/081223_galaxies_inline4-572x383.jpg 572w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/081223_galaxies_inline4-673x450.jpg 673w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/081223_galaxies_inline4-278x186.jpg 278w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><span class=\"caption wp-caption-3130158\">Six distant galaxies (red dots) appear to be too massive for current science to explain. But one of these \u201cuniverse breakers\u201d (top row, middle image) is not as distant as originally thought.<\/span><span class=\"credit wp-credit-3130158\">NASA, ESA, CSA, I. LABB\u00c9\/SWINBURNE UNIV. OF TECHNOLOGY; IMAGE PROCESSING: G. BRAMMER\/COSMIC DAWN CENTER\/NIELS BOHR INSTITUTE\/UNIV. OF COPENHAGEN<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>What\u2019s more, the current story of the universe doesn\u2019t predict nearly enough dark matter halos in the early universe as would be needed to build the many big galaxies that JWST saw.<\/p>\n<p>In that light, things look pretty dire for scientists\u2019 current theory of how the universe evolved.<\/p>\n<p>But Mu\u00f1oz and his colleagues think it\u2019s too soon to tear up our current picture of how our universe evolved. Perhaps, they say, scientists simply need to be more careful as they interpret data from JWST.<\/p>\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Hubble weighs in<\/h4>\n<p>Mu\u00f1oz\u2019s group decided to check JWST\u2019s results using data from NASA\u2019s Hubble Space Telescope. Hubble is older. And its \u201ceyesight\u201d isn\u2019t as good. So it can\u2019t see quite as far back in time as JWST can. But both instruments can capture light from galaxies in one era. That era spans roughly 450 million to 750 million years after the Big Bang. JWST views those galaxies in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/article\/scientists-say-infrared\">infrared light<\/a>. Hubble sees their ultraviolet light.<\/p>\n<p>If there really were 10 times more <a href=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/article\/scientists-say-dark-matter\">dark matter<\/a> structures in the early universe than we thought, \u201cthere would be 10 times more galaxies in James Webb\u201d images, Mu\u00f1oz says. And, he adds, \u201cthere would also be 10 times more galaxies in Hubble [data].\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"wp-block-sciencenews-inline-related-post alignleft\">\n<h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/article\/what-happened-since-big-bang-physics-universe-cosmic-timeline\">Cosmic timeline: What\u2019s happened since the Big Bang<\/a><\/h4>\n<\/aside>\n<p>But that\u2019s not what the Hubble data show.<\/p>\n<p>The team tallied how many galaxies Hubble saw across a wide brightness range. Then, they tried adding more dark matter halos to their model of the early universe. If they added enough halos to match the JWST data, their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/article\/scientists-say-model-definition-pronunciation\">model<\/a> could not match the Hubble data.<\/p>\n<p>So \u2026 which telescope should we trust?<\/p>\n<p>JWST is the more powerful of the two. It can simply see more galaxies than Hubble can at a given distance. But Hubble has been staring at the universe for much longer, Mu\u00f1oz notes. JWST started collecting data only in 2022. Hubble has been looking out at the cosmos since 1990. This means that right now, Hubble\u2019s data more reliably reflect what\u2019s out there, Mu\u00f1oz argues.<\/p>\n<p>For that reason, the researchers suggest looking at other explanations for JWST\u2019s odd galaxies \u2014 ones that don\u2019t involve rewriting the history of the universe with new physics.<\/p>\n<section class=\"newsletter-signup__wrapper___lZ0W1 wp-block-house-ads wp-block-newsletter-signup\">\n<picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/themes\/sciencenews-sns-child\/client\/src\/images\/cta-module@1x.png 1x,&#10;&#9;&#9;&#9;&#9;https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/themes\/sciencenews-sns-child\/client\/src\/images\/cta-module@2x.png 2x\" media=\"(min-width: 768px)\"><source srcset=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/themes\/sciencenews-sns-child\/client\/src\/images\/cta-module-sm@1x.png 1x,&#10;&#9;&#9;&#9;&#9;https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/themes\/sciencenews-sns-child\/client\/src\/images\/cta-module-sm@2x.png 2x\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"newsletter-signup__background___Eym8W\" src=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/themes\/sciencenews-sns-child\/client\/src\/images\/cta-module-sm@2x.png\" alt=\"\"\/><br \/>\n<\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<div class=\"newsletter-signup__container___srNOL\" data-component=\"newsletter-signup\">\n<h3 class=\"newsletter-signup__heading___0EHmb\">\n\t\t\tEducators and Parents, Sign Up for The Cheat Sheet\t\t<\/h3>\n<div class=\"newsletter-signup__message___pemaq\">\n<p>Weekly updates to help you use <em>Science News Explores<\/em> in the learning environment<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"newsletter-signup__thankyou___K6GGN\">Thank you for signing up!<\/p>\n<p class=\"newsletter-signup__error___hCsJI\">There was a problem signing you up.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What\u2019s going on?<\/h4>\n<p>Scientists thought the galaxies in JWST\u2019s images were super massive. They just looked so super bright. But perhaps there\u2019s some other reason for their brightness.<\/p>\n<p>Conditions in the early universe might have been different than later on. This may have allowed gas and dust to turn into stars much more efficiently than had been thought. Maybe such speedy star formation created the weirdly bright objects JWST sees.<\/p>\n<p>Star formation\u00a0also <a href=\"https:\/\/iopscience.iop.org\/article\/10.3847\/2041-8213\/acf85a\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">might have been more episodic<\/a>. That is, there may have been quiet periods with little star formation, followed by periods full of fast star formation. The stars from each burst of star formation would all be close to the same age. So they\u2019d all die as explosive <a href=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/article\/scientists-say-supernova\">supernovas<\/a> around the same time, one after another. In that case, JWST might simply be capturing some galaxies at these moments of intense brightness.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignwide size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1030\" height=\"580\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/081223_galaxies_inline2_1030.jpg\" alt=\"A JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey image showing hundreds of galaxies that appear to date to within 650 million years of the Big Bang on two black rectangles with a white overall background.\" class=\"wp-image-3130155\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/081223_galaxies_inline2_1030.jpg 1030w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/081223_galaxies_inline2_1030-680x383.jpg 680w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/081223_galaxies_inline2_1030-800x450.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/081223_galaxies_inline2_1030-330x186.jpg 330w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/081223_galaxies_inline2_1030-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1030px) 100vw, 1030px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><span class=\"caption wp-caption-3130155\">JWST scanned a swath of sky (shown) that has turned up hundreds of galaxies that appear to date to within 650 million years of the Big Bang. The reddish dots are the most distant galaxies.<\/span><span class=\"credit wp-credit-3130155\">NASA, ESA, CSA, M. Zamani\/ESA and Webb<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>It\u2019s also possible that some of the light that JWST sees in these early galaxies comes from their centers. There, supermassive <a href=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/?s=black+hole\">black holes<\/a> could be gorging on the matter around them. That frenzied feast would throw off a lot of light. And that, overall, could make a galaxy look super bright.<\/p>\n<p>Other researchers are impressed by what Mu\u00f1oz\u2019s team found. \u201cIt\u2019s very clever to look at the overlap region [between Hubble and JWST],\u201d says Priyamvada\u00a0Natarajan. She\u2019s a theoretical astrophysicist at Yale University.<\/p>\n<p>But Erica Nelson points out that the cosmos isn\u2019t entirely safe yet. Nelson is an astrophysicist at the University of Colorado Boulder. She was part of the team\u00a0that first identified the \u201cuniverse breakers.\u201d If any of these objects really is as massive as it looks, she says, \u201cit is a problem.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-group cheat-sheet-cta is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">Do you have a science question? We can help!<\/h2>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/forms.gle\/YbhPosFTMqjbSNnV7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Submit your question here<\/a>, and we might answer it an upcoming issue of\u00a0<em>Science News Explores<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"sn-conversion rich-text alignright\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/article\/james-webb-space-telescope-images-break-universe\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NASA\u2019s James Webb Space Telescope is raising big questions about the early universe. In its first images, JWST captured\u00a0what appeared to be huge galaxies in the ancient universe. In fact, those galaxies looked much too big to fit scientists\u2019 current theory of how the universe grew up. This has raised some concerns that the history [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":32568,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/081223_galaxies_feat.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[606],"tags":[4309,4307,3594,4308,4310,2301],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32567"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32567"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32567\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32569,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32567\/revisions\/32569"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}