{"id":17323,"date":"2023-01-11T22:15:24","date_gmt":"2023-01-11T14:15:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/nasas-webb-space-telescope-scores-big-at-americas-premier-astronomy-meeting\/"},"modified":"2023-01-11T22:15:24","modified_gmt":"2023-01-11T14:15:24","slug":"nasas-webb-space-telescope-scores-big-at-americas-premier-astronomy-meeting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/nasas-webb-space-telescope-scores-big-at-americas-premier-astronomy-meeting\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA\u2019s Webb Space Telescope scores big at America\u2019s premier astronomy meeting"},"content":{"rendered":"
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NASA\u2019s James Webb Space Telescope captured this infrared view of NGC 346, a dynamic star cluster that lies within a nebula 200,000 light-years away. Science credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Olivia C. Jones (UK ATC), Guido De Marchi (ESTEC), Margaret Meixner (USRA). Image processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI), Nolan Habel (USRA), Laura Lenki\u0107 (USRA), Laurie E. U. Chu (NASA Ames).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It\u2019s not yet clear whether the Seahawks will be in the Super Bowl, but Seattle is in the spotlight this week for the \u201cSuper Bowl of Astronomy\u201d \u2014 and there\u2019s already an obvious choice for MVP.<\/p>\n

NASA\u2019s James Webb Space Telescope is taking center stage at the 241st meeting of the American Astronomical Society, which has drawn more than 3,400 masked-up registrants to the Seattle Convention Center to share astronomical research and figure out their next moves on the final frontier.<\/p>\n

The twice-a-year AAS meetings are often compared to scientific Super Bowls \u2014 although the fact that this week\u2019s meeting came on the heels of the soccer world\u2019s biggest event led the National Science Foundation\u2019s NOIRLab to call it the \u201cWorld Cup of Astronomy and Astrophysics\u201d instead.<\/p>\n

This is the professional society\u2019s second post-pandemic, in-person meeting, following up on last June\u2019s AAS 240 meeting in Pasadena, Calif. The $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope was launched a little more than a year ago, but the telescope\u2019s first full-color images and science data weren\u2019t released until July \u2014 a month after AAS 240. That makes this week\u2019s gathering something of a coming-out party for JWST.<\/p>\n

Jane Rigby, an astrophysicist at NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center who serves as JWST\u2019s operations project scientist, said there\u2019s \u201cnothing but good news\u201d about the telescope\u2019s performance. \u201cThe science requirements are met or exceeded across the board,\u201d she said during a plenary lecture. \u201cIt\u2019s just all so gorgeous.\u201d<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t take long to see fresh evidence: One team of astronomers reported identifying 87 galaxies in JWST\u2019s first deep-field image that appear to date from an early era of the universe, just 200 million to 400 million years after the Big Bang. \u201cVery few people actually expected JWST would find so many candidate galaxies with such a large redshift within just one shot,\u201d study lead author Haojing Yan, an astronomer at the University of Missouri at Columbia, told reporters<\/p>\n

The distance measurements for those galaxies still need to be confirmed, but even if only a fraction of the candidates pass muster, \u201cour previously favored picture of galaxy formation in the early universe must be revised,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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Three faint objects (circled) captured in JWST\u2019s deep image of the galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 exhibit properties remarkably similar to rare, small galaxies called \u201cgreen peas\u201d found much closer to home. (Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA and STScI)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Another team analyzed the same deep-field image and spotted types of galaxies known as \u201cgreen peas,\u201d which earned their name due to their characteristic shape and color. Green-pea galaxies are hotbeds of star formation, and they\u2019ve previously been detected in our celestial backyard. But the light from JWST\u2019s green peas took 13.1 billion years to reach us. <\/p>\n

\u201cWith detailed chemical fingerprints of these early galaxies, we see that they include what might be the most primitive galaxy identified so far. At the same time, we can connect these galaxies from the dawn of the universe to similar ones nearby, which we can study in much greater detail,\u201d study lead author James Rhoads, an astrophysicist at Goddard Space Flight Center, said in a news release.<\/p>\n

Still more findings from JWST came in hot and heavy today at a news briefing:<\/p>\n

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  • Data from JWST confirmed the existence of LHS 475b, a hot rocky planet that\u2019s 99% as wide as Earth. The exoplanet circles a red dwarf star that\u2019s just 41 light-years away in the constellation Octans.<\/li>\n
  • A new infrared view of the dusty disk surrounding a red dwarf star that\u2019s 32 light-years away, AU Mic, provides clues about the composition of the disk.<\/li>\n
  • Astronomers released a sparkling new image of NGC 346, a star-forming region in the Small Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy near our own Milky Way.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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