NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has made history by capturing the earliest evidence of light shining through the universe after the Big Bang. The telescope observed an ancient galaxy called JADES-GS-z13-1-LA, which is one of the most distant galaxies in the known universe.
This galaxy emitted light just 330 million years after the Big Bang, a time when a thick fog of neutral hydrogen gas made it difficult for light to penetrate. However, JWST detected a Lyman-alpha emission from JADES, indicating that the surrounding gas had dissipated. This suggests that the galaxy was actively clearing the neutral hydrogen gas away.
The discovery is significant because it challenges current theories of early galaxy formation and has caught astronomers by surprise. The universe began 13.8 billion years ago with the Big Bang, and for 400,000 years, it was a dark age with no planets, stars, or galaxies. Around 680 million years after the Big Bang, the first stars and galaxies formed.
The detection of light from JADES is a rare occurrence due to the neutral hydrogen gas that surrounded the galaxy at that time. The team believes that this event may be one of the first instances of “reionization,” where light from ancient stars ionized nearby gas.
While the exact cause of JADES’ emission is still unknown, researchers have several theories. One possibility is that the galaxy hosted extremely massive, hot stars that produced more efficient radiation than average stars today. Another theory suggests that the galaxy contains an active supermassive black hole, which could explain the ionization of nearby gas.
The discovery offers a glimpse into what may be the first light from the oldest generation of stars in the cosmos. The James Webb Space Telescope has allowed astronomers to peer across time and space, revealing the earliest formations in our universe.
Source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-14564361/NASA-captures-lights-turning-universe-Big-Bang.html