[Epoch Times, July 23, 2022](The Epoch Times reporter Xia Yu comprehensive report) Around our Milky Way, there are a large number of galaxies “floating” in the universe, seemingly “surrounding” the Milky Way. The James Webb Space Telescope has made history again with its latest observations, discovering the oldest “galaxy” (galaxy) to date.
According to a report by Agence France-Presse and the earthsky website on July 21, scientists have discovered a galaxy called GLASS-z13 (click to see the picture)here). According to Rohan Naidu, a scientist at the Harvard Center for Astrophysics, the galaxy existed when the universe was less than 300 million years old, nearly 100 million years earlier than any galaxy previously discovered.
“The most distant starlight we’ve ever seen, farther than anyone has ever seen,” he said.
The exact age of GLASS-z13 is still unknown, as it could have formed anytime within the first 300 million years of the universe.
The galaxy was discovered in “preliminary release” data from the Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam), the Webb Space Telescope’s primary imaging instrument, but was not released when NASA released the first color images of Webb last week.
GLASS-z13 isn’t the only distant galaxy that astronomers are examining. They are also examining a galaxy called GLASS-z11, which is also a candidate for one of the earliest galaxies ever seen. Both galaxies are small compared to those seen today, such as our home galaxy, the Milky Way. The diameter of the Milky Way is about 100,000 light-years.
By comparison, GLASS-z13 and GLASS-z11 are 1,600 and 2,300 light-years in diameter, respectively. These two galaxies each have about 1 billion suns (stars). By comparison, our Milky Way is a galaxy of about 10 billion to 400 billion stars.
Naidu and 24 other astronomers have submitted their findings to the journal Science. While the data has not yet been peer-reviewed, NASA chief scientist Thomas Zurbuchen said the findings are promising.
“Yes, I usually only cheer when scientific research has been peer-reviewed, but this looks very promising,” he said.
The Hubble Space Telescope held the previous record for galaxy discovery in 2016, when it discovered the GN-Z11 galaxy in the direction of Ursa Major. Hubble also holds the record for the most distant star ever captured, called Earendel, whose light took 12.9 billion years to reach the Hubble lens.
With the Webb telescope fully operational last week, astronomers believe it will usher in a new era of discovery.
“Rarely in history have we humans looked at nature in a new way, and the Webb Telescope (@NASAWebb) has begun to write the next chapter in our cosmic story with its new images,” tweeted Zubken.
The Webb telescope was jointly developed by NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency, and is considered to be the “successor” of the Hubble telescope. The Hubble telescope mainly observes in the visible and ultraviolet wavelengths, while the Webb Space Telescope observation wavelength range is 600 nanometers to 28.8 micrometers, mainly in the infrared wavelengths.
Responsible editor: Li Yuan#