Webb

Astronomers at Rutgers University have used the James Webb Space Telescope to study the Wolf–Lundmark–Melotte galaxy, uncovering the history of star formation in the early universe. Their findings offer new insights into how galaxies evolve and the role of temperature in star formation. Credit: NASARutgers astronomer searching for clues about the early universe.Employing massive data sets collected through NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, a research team led by a Rutgers University–New Brunswick astronomer is unearthing…

Sample shapes of distant galaxies identified by the James Webb Space Telescope’s Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science (CEERS) survey. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Steve Finkelstein (UT Austin), Micaela Bagley (UT Austin), Rebecca Larson (UT Austin) Data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope suggests that many early galaxies were long and thin, not disk-like or spherical.Columbia researchers analyzing images from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope have found that galaxies in the early universe are often flat and…

Researchers have confirmed the existence of a neutron star at the center of Supernova 1987A, using the James Webb Space Telescope. This discovery resolves a long-standing mystery and contributes significantly to our understanding of supernovae and their role in the cosmos. Credit: HST, JWST/NIRSpec, J. LarssonThe discovery of a neutron star in Supernova 1987A illuminates the life cycle of stars and the cosmic origins of essential elements.An international team of astronomers including UCL’s (University College London’s)…

The Kuiper Belt is a donut-shaped region that surrounds most of our solar system. This region is known as the home of Pluto, a dwarf planet that was originally considered one of the nine planets in our solar system. Not much is known about the Kuiper Belt other than that it’s full of “dead” objects. Now, though, Webb has discovered new ice worlds that don’t appear to be dead after all.Curious to learn more about the Kuiper Belt and its icy inhabitants, astronomers pointed the James Webb space telescope at the…

Our understanding of how galaxies form and the nature of dark matter could be completely upended, after new observations of a stellar population bigger than the Milky Way from more than 11 billion years ago that should not exist.A paper published in Nature details findings using new data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The results find that a massive galaxy in the early universe – observed 11.5 billion years ago (a cosmic redshift of 3.2) – has an extremely old population of stars formed much earlier – 1.5…

NASA’s Juno spacecraft captured new images of Jupiter’s moon Io during its latest flyby, coming within an eerily close distance of the most volcanically active world in the solar system for a second time in less than two months. The close encounter also shows what appears to be a pair of plumes erupting from the moon’s surface. 'More People Need to Know About This History': A Black Astronaut Speaks About Race and SpaceOn Saturday, Juno made the second closest flyby of Io, traveling at a distance of 930 miles (1,500…

This collection of 19 face-on spiral galaxies from the James Webb Space Telescope in near- and mid-infrared light is at once overwhelming and awe-inspiring. “Webb’s new images are extraordinary,” said Janice Lee, a project scientist for strategic initiatives at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland. “They’re mind-blowing even for researchers who have studied these same galaxies for decades. Bubbles and filaments are resolved down to the smallest scales ever observed, and tell a story about the star…

A batch of newly released images captured by the James Webb Space Telescope show in remarkable detail 19 spiral galaxies residing relatively near our Milky Way, offering new clues on star formation as well as galactic structure and evolution.The images were made public on Monday by a team of scientists involved in a project called Physics at High Angular resolution in Nearby GalaxieS (PHANGS) that operates across several major astronomical observatories.The closest of the 19 galaxies is called NGC 5068, about 15 million…

The James Webb Space Telescope continues to astound astronomers with new images of the universe not possible with other instruments. A recently released gallery shows stunning details of 19 nearby spiral galaxies that are similar to our own Milky Way.In an ongoing project called PHANGS (Physics at High Angular resolution in Nearby Galaxies), recent galaxy images taken by Webb will be combined with images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope's MUSE (Multi-Unit…

The James Webb space telescope has amassed what the ESA is calling a “treasure trove” of new images of spiral galaxies. While the images themselves are beautiful, Webb’s observations of these 19 galaxies have revealed unknown structures within them, leaving scientists scrambling to learn more.The images were taken using the near- and mid-infrared systems on the James Webb, and they have provided us with a ton of detail to look at. Not only do they showcase the dust, gas, and stars within the galaxy, but they…