Early Universe Crackled With Bursts of Star Formation, Webb Shows
Monday, June 5, 2023 - 12:33
in Astronomy & Space
With its large, light-gathering mirror and infrared sensitivity, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is uniquely suited to study galaxies that existed in the early universe, just a few hundred million years after the big bang. Just over one whole month of Webb's observing time is devoted to the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey, or JADES. JADES will peer deeply into the universe to study some of the faintest and most distant galaxies. Among the program's first findings: Hundreds of galaxies that existed when the universe was less than 600 million years old, and galaxies that have undergone repeated bursts of star formation.