James Webb Space Telescope Discovers the Earliest Galaxy Ever Seen (space.com) 45
The James Webb Space Telescope has discovered the most distant galaxy ever observed, named MoM z14. NASA estimates it existed just 280 million years after the Big Bang. Space.com reports: Prior to the discovery of MoM z14, the galaxy holding the title of earliest and distant was JADES-GS-z14-0, which existed just 300 million years after the Big Bang, or around 13.5 billion years ago. This previous record galaxy has a redshift of z =14.32, while MoM z14 has a redshift of z = 14.44. There is a wider context to the observation of MoM z14 than the fact that it has broken the record for earliest known galaxy by 20 million years, though, as [explained team member and Yale University professor of Astronomy and Physics Pieter van Dokkum].
The researchers were able to determine that MoM z14 is around 50 times smaller than the Milky Way. The team also measured emission lines from the galaxy, indicating the presence of elements like nitrogen and carbon. "The emission lines are unusual; it indicates that the galaxy is very young, with a rapidly increasing rate of forming new stars," van Dokkum said. "There are also indications that there is not much neutral hydrogen gas surrounding the galaxy, which would be surprising: the very early universe is expected to be filled with neutral hydrogen. "That needs even better spectra and more galaxies, to investigate more fully."
The presence of carbon and nitrogen in MoM z14 indicates that there are earlier galaxies to be discovered than this 13.52 billion-year-old example. That is because the very earliest galaxies in the universe and their stars were filled with the simplest elements in the cosmos, hydrogen and helium. Later galaxies would be populated by these heavier elements, which astronomers somewhat confusingly call "metal," as their stars forged them and then dispersed them in supernova explosions. The research has been published on arXiv.
The researchers were able to determine that MoM z14 is around 50 times smaller than the Milky Way. The team also measured emission lines from the galaxy, indicating the presence of elements like nitrogen and carbon. "The emission lines are unusual; it indicates that the galaxy is very young, with a rapidly increasing rate of forming new stars," van Dokkum said. "There are also indications that there is not much neutral hydrogen gas surrounding the galaxy, which would be surprising: the very early universe is expected to be filled with neutral hydrogen. "That needs even better spectra and more galaxies, to investigate more fully."
The presence of carbon and nitrogen in MoM z14 indicates that there are earlier galaxies to be discovered than this 13.52 billion-year-old example. That is because the very earliest galaxies in the universe and their stars were filled with the simplest elements in the cosmos, hydrogen and helium. Later galaxies would be populated by these heavier elements, which astronomers somewhat confusingly call "metal," as their stars forged them and then dispersed them in supernova explosions. The research has been published on arXiv.
Buried the lead! (Score:5, Funny)
What the summary leaves out is the most important part! They found a pulsing pattern and have managed to decode the first part of it which reads: "We've been trying to reach you about your car's extended warranty..."
Re: (Score:2)
What the summary leaves out is the most important part! They found a pulsing pattern and have managed to decode the first part of it which reads: "We've been trying to reach you about your car's extended warranty..."
LOL. Thank you for a more lighthearted version. The first decoded transmission theme they went with in Contact was accurately uncomfortable.
Re: Buried the lead! (Score:3, Informative)
Lede.
Re: (Score:3)
Thankyou
This galaxy is too early to have any Lead (Pb)
Supernovae Already Happened (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Lead. Lead as in the opposite of 'follow' is written as 'lead' everywhere. 'lede' was used to avoid confusion with lead (Pb), the stuff newspaper type was made of. Since nobody has used Pb to cast newspaper type for decades, this use is archaic and unneccessary, making it pretentious hipsterism and not a serious word.
Re: (Score:2)
They found another one later that read “Not only was your copper of substandard quality, you've also been very rude to my servant sent to collect it.”
I miss the days when this was what the US did (Score:5, Insightful)
The US was once capable of leading an international effort to put up this extraordinary piece of science, technology and engineering and thus enabling humanity to peer in to the deep past. It did this through NASA, of course. Now we have endless fuckwittery and attempts to damage every government agency capable of doing anything. Ozymandias beckons
Re:I miss the days when this was what the US did (Score:4, Insightful)
being overrun and invaded by border-destroying delusional liberal bullshit
The time, which you remember but never was.
Re:I miss the days when this was what the US did (Score:5, Insightful)
That's like the firefighter commiting arson just to prove his worth.
Re: (Score:2)
Basically, you want the economical situation to be dire just for you being able to turn out the alpha male?
A surprising number of people think exactly that. On both sides for that matter. Saying that so and so president will cause economic problems and excited about people suffering. These are people who are so brain dead sold on either parties propaganda that they revel in the idea of their own citizens suffering for not voting for the right person.
Re: (Score:2)
There are so many things wrong with what you wrote that it's not even worth my time to finish reading it.
Re: (Score:2)
Spoken like a true "Anonymous Coward"
Re: (Score:3)
" I'd almost welcome the recession to take the ignorance and arrogance of both of them down about 69 notches." I agree, it is about time the Red States got knocked back to the Stone Age for their ignorance and arrogance.
Re: (Score:2)
I miss the days when adult children didn't hold the power to teach and vote.
I miss the days when you did not elect them as your president.
Re: (Score:2)
So, we need America to be how it used to be?
Minorities, non-straight people, and women knew their place, and if they didn't it didn't matter because they were prevented from many jobs, living in many place, etc?
Re: (Score:2)
No, like the JWST, which is what this article is about, and what I commented on. Was that hard for you to understand?
Re: (Score:2)
1. Oh look, someone responds to a point about NASA by twatting on about Ukraine
2. Fucking Putin cuck. Gross person
3. It’s actively funny that you still think it’s in your interest to discuss inflation. Enjoy the ride for the rest of the year, sunny Jim. I’m glad I’m not in the US for it
Re: (Score:2)
Oh? You have a better model? Do tell.
Re: (Score:2)
Not hat it applies here, because both the standard model and general relativity have tremendous predictive value, and physics have identified the places where they have not, and do not apply them there, but this here is exactly the problem with a lot of science. There are so many commonly accepted models in many fields that are obviously wrong and lack predictive value that are nevertheless mainstream consensus simply because nothing better exists. That is not the right way to do it I feel. At some point yo
Re:Rest in pieces, "modern cosmology" (Score:5, Insightful)
The oldest known Galaxy today! (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
What about the title "James Webb Space Telescope Discovers the Earliest Galaxy Ever Seen" do you not understand?
Re:The oldest known Galaxy today! (Score:4, Informative)
I think this is cool and all but it seems like every other day I see this exact same thing in the news but with a different galaxy. With how many times we keep finding the "oldest known Galaxy" and the way it's reported it isn't even exciting anymore. It just feels like calling the last galaxy discovered as the oldest was premature.
It's galaxies all the way away down!
I think the Webb has been pumping out data at such a rate that we get the "oldest galaxy ever found" stuff seemingly continuously.
One thing is for certain. If we've found a galaxy that close to the BB, 300 million years is pretty damn near there to the singularity. In cosmological terms, that's not even a blink of the eye. We can't find much earlier any more, and if we do, the Big Bang cosmology will be debunked.
Anyhow, I'm pretty excited by this. Yeah, Nitrogen and carbon being found that close to the singularity is already an issue in a Universe that wasn't supposed to have those elements yet.
That's quite a blink! (Score:3)
300 million years is pretty damn near there to the singularity. In cosmological terms, that's not even a blink of the eye.
300 million years is over 2% of the lifespan of the universe. If we take the average human lifespan to be about 80 years that would be a "blink of the eye" lasting 1.7 years which is quite a long blink.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
> Fingers crossed the universe is not like an 80 year old though. I'd prefer to think of it as a teenager
God will give you a choice between a doddling Biden universe or a mad-clown Trump universe.
Re:That's quite a blink! (Score:4, Interesting)
300 million years is over 2% of the lifespan of the universe. If we take the average human lifespan to be about 80 years that would be a "blink of the eye" lasting 1.7 years which is quite a long blink.
300 million years is also enough time for at least 15 generations of massive stars (assuming they could form at all). Stars like VY Canis Majoris, which live at most 20 million years and then supernovae, distributing their carbon & nitrogen "ashes". But stars in this category don't even wait until the die, they churn and pulse and build dust shells around themselves. Their orbits thru galaxies are something akin to Schulz's cartoon character "Pigpen" walking thru a room. We suspect a star's upper limit is something like 1700 solar radii today, but even this can't be assumed in the early universe. At what point in density does a galaxy and a star differentiate into separate objects? That's hidden in that unobserved gap between the CMB and these early galaxies.
T
Re: (Score:2)
Well, since they found Nitrogen, they clearly aren't seeing the first generation...unless...
Re:That's quite a blink! (Nitrogen mystery) (Score:2)
One theory is our universe is connected to another older universe, and the, I mean our Big Bang was was like an add-on room to a house. The theory is there is some spill-over, God forgot to close the door before setting off the fireworks.
Re: (Score:2)
300 million years is pretty damn near there to the singularity. In cosmological terms, that's not even a blink of the eye.
300 million years is over 2% of the lifespan of the universe. If we take the average human lifespan to be about 80 years that would be a "blink of the eye" lasting 1.7 years which is quite a long blink.
Perhaps I err in hyperbole. My bad. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that scientists are stunned to find heavier elements at an earlier stage of th Universe, and this changes everything! Just funnin'
The name looks like leetspeek for "momzer" (Score:2)
which is Yiddish for "bastard".
Confusingly "metal" (Score:1)
The word you're looking for... (Score:2)
...is 'oldest'.
Why assume that Red Shift *always* equates to age (Score:2)
Perhaps a near miss with another galaxy could have accelerated this one in such a direction that its red shift makes it appear older than it is.
The presence of Carbon and Nitrogen, and the lack of neutral hydrogen suggest that it is not as old as its red shift indicates.
I only read the article cited in the summary, not the actual paper.