this post was submitted on 27 Jun 2024
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Summ:

  • The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has discovered the most distant galaxy ever confirmed, named JADES-GS-z14-0, which appears as it existed just 290 million years after the Big Bang.

  • The discovery of this surprisingly luminous and massive early galaxy challenges theories about how galaxies formed in the cosmic dawn

  • JWST has been repeatedly breaking its own records for the most distant galaxies since beginning operations in 2022

more about:

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjeenyw8rd2o

https://webbtelescope.org/contents/early-highlights/nasas-james-webb-space-telescope-finds-most-distant-known-galaxy

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[–] Drunemeton@lemmy.world 93 points 1 month ago (4 children)

“A redshift of one corresponds to a distance of more than 10 billion light-years. JWST’s studies showed that JADES-GS-z14-0 has a redshift of 14.32, the highest ever recorded.”

Wow!

“Usually gases like oxygen show up only after large groups of stars have lived their lives and died in supernova explosions,” Hainline says. “So seeing oxygen in a galaxy this young is like if you are an anthropologist and you find an enormous, ancient city that has evidence of iPhones.”

That just boggles the mind!

Can’t wait to get more data on this wee, spry, bizarre find.

[–] Kernal64@sh.itjust.works 24 points 1 month ago (2 children)

It is an entire, whole ass galaxy. I do not think it fits any definition of wee.

[–] Drunemeton@lemmy.world 7 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Ha ha ha!

Well…

We both saw the photo in the article. It’s a big photo, and they had to enlarge the teeny tiny spot this galaxy was in, then blow it up and actually add an arrow to point it out.

Seems pretty wee to me!

pikachupokerface.webp

[–] dave@feddit.uk 9 points 1 month ago

Ok Dougal, one last time. Small… Far away…

[–] remotelove@lemmy.ca 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Size is relative and our perception of time (and the way we measure it) requires us to use numbers so large, most people can't really visualize at the scales we are talking about.

Off the top of your head, can you visualize how much space 10 billion apples would take up? Sure, you could calculate it, but it's likely not something you could instantly visualize in your head.

Honestly, I don't know how to solve for that problem.

[–] aStonedSanta@lemm.ee -2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

More education tbh. Don’t see any other solution.

[–] cows_are_underrated 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Being able to visualize how much space something needs only comes with experience, so as long ad you don't want students to work with 10b apple on a regular basis, education isn't really able to change this.

[–] aStonedSanta@lemm.ee 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

What’s your solution then?

[–] cows_are_underrated 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

As I said. The only way to be able to visualize extreme numbers of anything is, to work with extreme numbers of it, but this isn't a viable solution for everything.

[–] aStonedSanta@lemm.ee 1 points 1 month ago

So your answer is. Education. Got it.

[–] Fades@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

142.3 billion light years 🤯

[–] Confused_Emus@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

If you enjoy the topic, my favorite astrophysicist, Dr. Becky, covered this discovery in her latest video!

[–] MonkderDritte@feddit.de 1 points 1 month ago

Why? Earlier galaxies had often bigger stars and supergiants & co. don't live long but fuse to oxygen too, no?

[–] JimSamtanko@lemm.ee 73 points 1 month ago (3 children)

It’s a shame that things like this don’t make national headlines. I sometimes daydream about how cool it would be if we were all collectively interested in these things.

[–] ChairmanMeow@programming.dev 14 points 1 month ago (2 children)

This was in the national news like a week ago in the Nerherlands. I remember coming across an article about it.

[–] Crowfiend@lemmy.world 11 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Over here in 'murica, the only news that makes headlines is about either Biden, Trump, Musk, or mass shootings. 🙄

[–] Treczoks@lemmy.world 7 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Not even that. With about two mass shootings per day on average, most mass shootings don't make the news.

[–] olutukko@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

wait is this statistically correct?

[–] Treczoks@lemmy.world 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

A "mass shooting" has four or more people being hit, which happens about 800 times a year in the US. And about once a year in other western countries, if at all.

[–] olutukko@lemmy.world 5 points 1 month ago

okay that's insane

[–] Fades@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago

Same here in the USA, this discovery is at least a month old.

[–] Etterra@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

The only way you're going to get the majority of Americans to pay attention to this is if you tell them that the Galaxy just got an abortion.

[–] olutukko@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago
[–] homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world 25 points 1 month ago

Some theories might allude that such brightness comes from a burgeoning supermassive black hole feasting on gas at the center of JADES-GS-z14-0. But in that case, light is usually concentrated into a much smaller region.

Instead the best explanation Hainline and colleagues have found is that this exceedingly young galaxy has somehow already manufactured about a half billion stars.

. . . How could a galaxy so young have already sparked so many stellar generations? “Usually gases like oxygen show up only after large groups of stars have lived their lives and died in supernova explosions,” Hainline says. “So seeing oxygen in a galaxy this young is like if you are an anthropologist and you find an enormous, ancient city that has evidence of iPhones.”

[–] 4am@lemm.ee 17 points 1 month ago

There was some talk recently that perhaps the universe is as a much as twice as old as we suspected, which could account for (some?) aspects of it we try to explain with dark matter. I wonder if this discovery lends any weight to that?

[–] MonkderDritte@feddit.de 8 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Wait, if that galaxy didn't form at the exact same point where the big bang happened (we wouldn't see it then), then it is likely older. Or the universe is older.

[–] ekZepp@lemmy.world 10 points 1 month ago

New theories suggest the second one.

[–] anonymous111@lemmy.world 8 points 1 month ago (5 children)

Does anyone have any good YouTube channels for these type of space discoveries?

[–] Aolley@lemmy.world 10 points 1 month ago (1 children)

PBS Space Time is pretty great

[–] Muscar@discuss.online 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

It's great but not really what they asked for. They don't really cover new things in that way, they go in depth about specific things with the most recent knowledge, not new discoveries like this post is about.

[–] MataVatnik@lemmy.world 9 points 1 month ago

I really like Anton Petrov, he reviews individual papers as they are published. Not sure if he covered this one.

https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCciQ8wFcVoIIMi-lfu8-cjQ

[–] Jeredin@lemm.ee 6 points 1 month ago (1 children)
[–] Cataphract@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 month ago

Just want to highlight this channel, it's a great resource and his group does a free weekly newsletter you can sign up for as well as the video version on his channel. He covers users questions on live streams a lot of times and goes in-depth with interviews and space topics covering just about everything.

[–] Muscar@discuss.online 6 points 1 month ago

Good suggestions but none of them beats Anton Petrov IMO:

https://youtube.com/@whatdamath

[–] atx_aquarian@lemmy.world 5 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

But JADES-GS-z14-0 has properties that are vastly different from its slightly ~~older~~ younger counterpart

ftfy... at least, I think that's what they meant.

edit: After discussion, I think I see that I might be a candidate for "people incorrectly correcting others".

[–] MrShankles@reddthat.com 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Huh... that made my brain do a few twists. The reference point for distance would be our own galaxy (I assume). So you would think that the furthest one would be the "oldest" due to expansion of the universe... so I would think that you're correct in your correction?

Unless they meant "older" in the sense of "discovered earlier"? I have no idea anymore, I guess they could argue it either way

Edit: After re-reading it, I think they're just referring "Younger" and "Older" to how the galaxies appear to us (due to the time it takes light to travel). As in, the newest discovery is "younger" because that's the age that we can observe it as, by the time the light has reached us. Idk anymore, I know nothing lol

[–] atx_aquarian@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Oh, ok, now I think I'm following. So, like, maybe the one whose light is older (since it's farther away) could be in a less-developed state, like seeing an older photo of a baby.

The universe breaks my brain, too. I love it!

[–] MrShankles@reddthat.com 2 points 1 month ago

Nah, you broke my brain a bit too lol. I had to re-read carefully to try and follow... and I still wasn't sure by the end

[–] _sideffect@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago (2 children)

That looks like an alien vessel

[–] EtherWhack@lemmy.world 7 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)
[–] _sideffect@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

I know 😁

[–] paddirn@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Pretty sure it's alien dyson spheres all the way down, that's the only logical explanation here.

[–] _sideffect@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago