[Epoch Times, July 23, 2022](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.jamesWebb Space Telescope(James Webb Space Telescope) made history again with its latest observations, discovering the oldest “galaxy” (galaxy) to date.
Comprehensive Agence France-Presse and earthsky website reported on July 21 that 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 is inWebb Space TelescopeThe discovery was made in “preliminary release” data from the main imaging device, the Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam), but was released last week by NASA.Webb telescopeThis news was not released when the first color maps were published.
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 Milky Way is about 100,000 light-years in diameter.
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 While the data has not yet been peer-reviewed, NASA chief scientist Thomas Zurbuchen said the findings are promising.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.
along withWebb telescopeFully 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#