(Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Brant Robertson (UC Santa Cruz), Ben Johnson (CfA), Sandro Tacchella (Cambridge), Marcia Rieke (University of Arizona), Daniel Eisenstein (CfA))
Since December 2021, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has unlocked various secrets of our universe. From providing newer images of galaxies taken by the Hubble Space Telescope to enlightening experts on supernova remnants and peering into the early universe, the spacecraft has already discovered so much.
Below are the latest and greatest images that NASA has released from the JWST.
March 4, 2024: Baby Galaxy Named GN-z11
(Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Brant Robertson (UC Santa Cruz), Ben Johnson (CfA), Sandro Tacchella (Cambridge), Marcia Rieke (University of Arizona), Daniel Eisenstein (CfA))
JWST’s latest image, released on March 4, 2024, shows the farthest and youngest galaxy we know about. Dubbed GN-z11, the baby galaxy appears to have a supermassive black hole in its center. The black hole aggressively pulls matter, making the galaxy super bright, too.
“We found extremely dense gas that is common in the vicinity of supermassive black holes accreting gas,” said Roberto Maiolino, an astrophysicist and study first author, in a NASA press release. “These were the first clear signatures that GN-z11 is hosting a black hole that is gobbling matter.” Details on GN-z11’s supermassive black hole were published earlier this year in Nature.
JWST’s snapshot of the distant galaxy is the furthest we have ever spotted a black hole. The way we see GN-z11 is as it was 13.4 billion years ago, or 400 million years after the Big Bang. So, it can give researchers clues as to what the young universe looked like.
This new image also peers into a clump of helium gas surrounding the galaxy. The gassy halo means that the area could form clusters of stars. GN-z11 can be found in the constellation Ursa Major. This fascinating galaxy was first observed with the Hubble Space Telescope and NASA’s Spritzer Space Telescope.
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