The James Webb Space Telescope has made a groundbreaking discovery by detecting complex organic compounds in a galaxy situated over 12 billion light-years away. The location of these molecules marks the most distant known occurrence, providing essential understanding into the chemistry of the early universe.
In this new research, these molecules, akin to those found in smoke or smog, were spotted in a galaxy 12 billion light-years away from Earth. This detection, facilitated by the James Webb Space Telescope’s advanced technology and the meticulous analysis of the research team, provides critical insight into the chemical complexities in the universe’s earliest galaxies.
A collaborative team led by Joaquin Vieira, a professor of astronomy and physics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and graduate student Kedar Phadke, together with researchers from Texas A&M University and an international science community, successfully differentiated between infrared signals from massive dust grains in the galaxy and those from the newly discovered hydrocarbon molecules. The Nature journal published these findings on June 5.
Vieira reflected on the project’s origins, which began during his graduate studies on hard-to-detect, dust-obscured galaxies at a significant distance. According to him, approximately half of the universe’s stellar radiation is absorbed and re-emitted by dust grains, rendering infrared light from distant objects either extremely faint or entirely undetectable through ground-based telescopes.
The team’s study was greatly assisted by a phenomenon referred to as gravitational lensing, which is like nature’s magnifying glass. This event occurs when two galaxies align almost perfectly from Earth’s viewpoint, leading to the light from the more distant galaxy being distorted and magnified into an Einstein ring by the gravitational pull of the foreground galaxy.
The team concentrated the telescope’s power on SPT0418-47, an object discovered using the National Science Foundation’s South Pole Telescope. Identified as a dust-obscured galaxy amplified by gravitational lensing, SPT0418-47 is 12 billion light-years away, corresponding to when the universe was less than 1.5 billion years old, or around 10% of its present age.
The spectroscopic data from the Webb telescope suggests that SPT0418-47’s obscured interstellar gas is heavy-element-rich, which implies that stars have gone through multiple life cycles. The researchers detected a type of molecule known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, or PAH. These molecules, made up of carbon chains, are seen as the building blocks for the earliest forms of life.
Vieira expressed his surprise and excitement at this game-changing discovery, stating that this was only the beginning and that the capabilities of the Webb telescope were yet to be fully explored. He expressed his gratitude to U.S. taxpayers, the NSF, and NASA for their financial support for both the South Pole Telescope and the Webb telescope, as the discovery would not have been possible without these instruments.
For more detailed information about this discovery, please refer to James Webb Telescope Discovers Organic Molecules in Distant Galaxy.
This research, titled “Spatial variations in aromatic hydrocarbon emission in a dust-rich galaxy,” was published in Nature on June 5, 2023.
Vieira currently serves as the director of the Center for AstroPhysical Surveys, funded by the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at Illinois. Phadke is a CAPS graduate fellow.
The management of the Webb telescope is under the Space Telescope Science Institute, which operates under the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., with a contract from NASA.
Table of Contents
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Webb Space Telescope discovery
What significant discovery has the James Webb Space Telescope made?
The James Webb Space Telescope has detected complex organic molecules in a galaxy that is over 12 billion light-years away. This is the most distant known occurrence of such molecules and provides critical insight into the chemistry of the early universe.
What are the complex organic molecules discovered in the distant galaxy?
The specific complex organic molecules detected in the distant galaxy are a type of molecule called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, or PAH. These molecules, which consist of carbon chains, are considered the basic building blocks for the earliest forms of life.
What is the significance of the discovered molecules in understanding the universe’s early chemistry?
The detection of these complex organic molecules in a distant galaxy indicates that even in the early stages of the universe, complex chemical interactions occurred. This discovery provides essential information about the chemical complexities in the universe’s earliest galaxies.
How was the distant galaxy, where the molecules were discovered, identified?
The galaxy, known as SPT0418-47, was discovered using the National Science Foundation’s South Pole Telescope. It was identified as a dust-obscured galaxy magnified by gravitational lensing and is 12 billion light-years away from Earth.
What is gravitational lensing and how did it aid the research?
Gravitational lensing is a phenomenon where the light from a distant galaxy is warped and magnified by the gravitational pull of a foreground galaxy. In this research, gravitational lensing allowed the researchers to study the distant galaxy in more detail than would otherwise be possible, facilitating the discovery of the complex organic molecules.
More about Webb Space Telescope discovery
- James Webb Space Telescope
- Gravitational Lensing
- National Science Foundation’s South Pole Telescope
- Complex Organic Molecules in Space
- The Nature Journal
5 comments
Webb Telescope rocks! it’s like our own time machine to peek into the early universe.
Wow, didn’t think we’d be finding stuff like this so far away. what a time to be alive!
This is so cool, I mean complex organic molecules, 12 billion light years away? science rocks!
Hats off to the team! Space is full of surprises, i bet theres more to come.
amazin, just amazin… It’s like we’re watching the universe being born.