James Webb Space Telescope: Red smudge could unlock chemistry of the early universe
July 18, 2022A galaxy caught in the distant background of the James Webb Space Telescope’s first “deep field” image could help astronomers understand the chemistry of the early universe
Space
18 July 2022
This red blob is a distant galaxy in the background of James Webb’s “deep field” image NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI
When the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) project released its first full-colour images last week, in among the stunning starscapes was a humble-looking graphic that has nonetheless set astronomers’ hearts aflutter. The diagram shows the fingerprint-like spectrum of light from an inconspicuous red background galaxy (pictured above) in the telescope’s “deep field” image, and its undulating peaks and troughs represent an unprecedented insight into a galaxy living in the early universe.
The spectrum itself …
