But stunning as this technological marvel might be, it\u2019s nothing compared to the remarkable data it has unearthed over the last year.<\/p>\n
JWST launched on 25 December 2021, reaching its operational orbit at the second Lagrange point, 1.5 million kilometres from Earth, a month later.<\/p>\n
After a few more months calibrating its instruments, it was finally ready to turn its gaze on the Universe.<\/p>\n
- See the latest James Webb Space Telescope images<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>
![\""A\"]( "\\"\"webb\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>A view of supernova remnant Cassiopeia A captured by the James Webb Space Telescope. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Danny Milisavljevic (Purdue University), Tea Temim (Princeton University), Ilse De Looze (UGent). Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n The Webb Telescope has been tasked with investigating four main science goals:<\/p>\n
- The early Universe and the first galaxies<\/li>\n
- The growth and evolution of galaxies over time<\/li>\n
- The lifecycle of stars<\/li>\n
- The study of other worlds<\/li>\n<\/ul>
The new telescope is uniquely suited to investigating these goals as it observes infrared<\/a> wavelengths.<\/p>\n
This light can pass through clouds of dust and gas, and reveal warm objects that do not shine in visible wavelengths, meaning it can peer into corners of the Universe previously hidden from view.<\/p>\n
JWST began returning its first remarkable scientific findings in July 2022.<\/p>\n
Here we look back at some of the milestones it achieved during its first year.<\/p>\n
- 4 questions the James Webb Space Telescope is poised to answer<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>
The first galaxies in the Universe<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\""A\"]( "\\"\"webb\\"")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>A medium-deep wide-field image showing thousands of galaxies, captured by the James Webb Space Telescope. One key part of JWST\u2019s mission will be to use its infrared eyes to peer through the dust and gas to the earliest eras of the Universe.<\/p>\n
Here it will help discover how the first stars and galaxies formed, as well as uncover fresh evidence for dark matter<\/a>.<\/p>\n
JWST\u2019s Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES) has been allocated a month of JWST\u2019s observing time, spread out over two years, and takes advantage of the telescope\u2019s unprecedented sensitivity to investigate the earliest galaxies in greater detail than ever before.<\/p>\n
In December 2022, JWST discovered the most distant, and therefore earliest, galaxies ever found \u2013 at least up to that point.<\/p>\n
The light from these galaxies set out when our Universe was just two per cent of its current age, and has taken the last 13.4 billion years to reach us.<\/p>\n
![\""Two\"]( "\\"\"webb\\"")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Two of the faintest, most distant galaxies revealed by the \u2018Lyman break\u2019 in the spectra.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n JADES focused JWST on the same patch of sky as Hubble\u2019s Ultra Deep Field, located in the Fornax Cluster.<\/p>\n
While Hubble found an impressive 10,000 galaxies in the region, JWST\u2019s image is 15 times larger, and contains a staggering 100,000 galaxies.<\/p>\n
Astronomers are still sifting through this deluge, looking for the most distant galaxies among them.<\/p>\n
One \u2018easy\u2019 way to pick out distant candidates is to use the fact that hydrogen gas absorbs almost all light at wavelengths shorter than 91nm, called the Lyman limit.<\/p>\n
Since galaxies are filled with hydrogen, this creates a sharp \u2018step\u2019 in their ultraviolet and X-ray emissions.<\/p>\n
However, as light travels through space it is stretched (or redshifted<\/a>) due to the expansion of the Universe<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The longer it travels, the more it stretches, until this step in emissions moves into the visible range.<\/p>\n
Astronomers can use the position of this \u2018Lyman break\u2019, to work out how far away a galaxy is.<\/p>\n
For 28 hours over three days, JWST collected the faintest infrared spectra ever taken from 250 candidate galaxies, revealing the precise position of the Lyman break in each galaxy.<\/p>\n
This confirmed that four of the galaxies had a redshift above 10, setting new distance records, including two with redshifts of 13.<\/p>\n
JADES will now study Hubble\u2019s Deep Field, a small region in Ursa Major, before returning to the Ultra Deep Field, so we can expect many more \u2018most distant galaxies\u2019 to be confirmed in the future.<\/p>\n
The evolution of galaxies<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\""Galaxy\"]( "\\"\"Galaxy\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Galaxy M74, one of 19 galaxies studied by the Physics at High Angular resolution in Nearby Galaxies (PHANGS) collaboration, observed by James Webb Space Telescope\u2019s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI). Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, and J. Lee (NOIRLab), A. Pagan (STScI)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n The early Universe was a far busier place than it is today.<\/span><\/p>\n
Ten billion years ago, the rate at which stars burst into life and galaxies<\/a> crashed together was 10 times higher. <\/span><\/p>\n
JWST aims to investigate the driving force behind this activity \u2013 as well as its sharp decline \u2013 by tracking galaxies over time to see how they have evolved.<\/span><\/p>\n
JWST is able to study areas previously hidden from view and begin to reveal how the formation of stars \u2013 some of the smallest objects in the Universe, cosmologically speaking \u2013 can influence the structure and evolution of some galaxies, some of the largest objects in the Universe.<\/span><\/p>\n
The Physics at High Angular resolution in Nearby Galaxies Survey<\/a> (PHANGS) represents the largest survey of nearby galaxies in JWST\u2019s first year of science.<\/span><\/p>\n
Its international team of 100 researchers are investigating 19 diverse spiral galaxies and have already made observations of five of their targets, including the spiral galaxy, NGC 1433.<\/span><\/p>\n
![\""Barred\"]( "\\"\"Barred\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Barred spiral galaxy NGC 1433 in Horologium, James Webb Space Telescope, 16 February 2023<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n NGC 1433 lies 46 million lightyears from Earth in the Southern Hemisphere constellation of Horologium.<\/p>\n
The galaxy has a tight, bright core that features a unique double ring of tightly wrapped spiral arms, wound into an oval structure along its central bar.<\/p>\n
JWST\u2019s sensitivity to infrared has revealed a network of cavities and huge bubbles of gas lining the galaxy\u2019s spiral arms, which had previously been hidden by clouds of dust in the galaxy.<\/p>\n
The cavities are formed by young stars interacting with the gas surrounding them, and so will help give key insights into how star formation shapes growing galaxies.<\/p>\n
PHANGS will continue to survey galaxies with JWST, and combine these observations with data previously taken by other telescopes to conduct a complete census of star formation in nearby galaxies, beyond the Local Group<\/a>, to reveal how star formation gave rise to, or impeded, the formation of the next generation of stars at earlier stages in the Universe\u2019s evolution.<\/p>\n
Stars blowing bubbles<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\""The\"]( "\\"\"The\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>The Carina Nebula, James Webb Space Telescope, July 2022. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n Stars begin their lives in dense clouds of obscuring dust and gas, but JWST\u2019s high-resolution infrared capabilities are able to pierce through this and reveal stars growing in their cosmic nurseries.<\/p>\n
One of the first images released by JWST back in July 2022 was of NGC 3372, a young star-forming region 7,600 lightyears away, in the northwest corner of the Carina Nebula, NGC 3372.<\/p>\n
JWST\u2019s infrared instruments revealed the edge of a gigantic gaseous cavity \u2013 a huge bubble created by the intense radiation and stellar winds from nearby massive, hot, young stars, dubbed the Cosmic Cliffs.<\/p>\n
As the ionised rim of the bubble pushes into the gas and dust of the nebula<\/a>, the change in pressure can cause either a boom or bust \u2013 material either collapses to form new stars or erodes away, preventing star formation.<\/p>\n
![\""Carina\"]( "\\"\"Carina\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>The penetrative power of JWST\u2019s infrared is starkly revealed in this comparison of the star nursery in the Carina Nebula (left) with the image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2008 (right). Credit: NASA\/ESA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI\/AURA)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n Dense clouds form more massive stars, which in turn drives the gas into voids and denser regions where lower-mass stars form.<\/p>\n
As the growing stars pull material in, high-velocity jets of gas and dust stream from the stars\u2019 poles.<\/p>\n
These jets only appear briefly, during periods of active accretion, but astronomers have still managed to find 24 such flows.<\/p>\n
Instead of a steady stream, these flows are chains of dense, fast-moving clumps, indicating that accretion occurs in a series of short, powerful bursts.<\/p>\n
Monitoring these outflows allows astronomers to estimate how fast they move, how much mass they carry and their effect on growing stars and planets.<\/p>\n
The chemical profiles of exoplanets<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\""Artist's\"]( "\\"\"Artist's\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Joseph Olmsted (STScI)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n We now know of thousands of planets beyond our Solar System, but while we may know the size, mass and orbit of these worlds, understanding of the atmospheres above them has proved elusive.<\/p>\n
- 4 questions the James Webb Space Telescope is poised to answer<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>
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