Webb Space Telescope Shows Early Universe Crackled With Bursts of Star Formation

The JADES program of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is providing groundbreaking insights into the early universe by uncovering hundreds of ancient galaxies and revealing intricate patterns of star formation. This study suggests that young, hot stars in early galaxies played a pivotal role in the universe’s transition from being opaque to becoming transparent during the Epoch of Reionization. Additionally, through the analysis of redshift, JADES has defied previous predictions and discovered nearly a thousand extremely distant galaxies, shedding light on the complexity of the early universe.

Webb Continues to Discover Abundance of Young Galaxies in Remote Regions

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), equipped with its large mirror and infrared sensitivity, possesses a unique ability to study galaxies that existed in the early universe, only a few hundred million years after the big bang. Over the course of more than a month, Webb’s observing time is dedicated to the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES). JADES aims to delve deeply into the universe, exploring some of the faintest and most distant galaxies. Notably, the program has already uncovered hundreds of galaxies that existed when the universe was less than 600 million years old, as well as galaxies that experienced recurring bursts of star formation.

This infrared image, captured by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) for the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES) program, displays a segment of the GOODS-South sky region, which has been extensively studied by the Hubble Space Telescope and other observatories. Over 45,000 galaxies are visible in this image. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Brant Robertson (UC Santa Cruz), Ben Johnson (CfA), Sandro Tacchella (Cambridge), Marcia Rieke (University of Arizona), Daniel Eisenstein (CfA), Alyssa Pagan (STScI)

Bursts of Star Formation Illuminate the Early Universe

One of the most fundamental inquiries in astronomy is understanding the formation of the first stars and galaxies. The James Webb Space Telescope, even in its early stages, has already begun to shed light on this matter. Among the significant initiatives in Webb’s inaugural year of scientific research is the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES), allocating around 32 days of telescope time to explore and characterize faint and distant galaxies. While the data is still being analyzed, JADES has already identified hundreds of galaxies that existed when the universe was less than 600 million years old. Moreover, the team has identified galaxies radiating with numerous young, hot stars.

“Our objective with JADES is to find answers to various questions, such as how the earliest galaxies formed, how rapidly they generated stars, and why certain galaxies ceased star formation,” explained Marcia Rieke from the University of Arizona in Tucson, co-lead of the JADES program.

Factories of Stars

Ryan Endsley from the University of Texas at Austin spearheaded an investigation into galaxies that existed between 500 and 850 million years after the big bang, a crucial period known as the Epoch of Reionization. During this era, the universe was enveloped in a gaseous fog, rendering it opaque to energetic light. By approximately one billion years after the big bang, the fog dissipated, and the universe transitioned to transparency, a process known as reionization. Scientists have debated whether active, supermassive black holes or galaxies teeming with young, hot stars were primarily responsible for reionization.

As part of the JADES program, Endsley and colleagues examined these galaxies to identify signs of star formation, which were abund

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about early universe star formation

More about early universe star formation

• James Webb Space Telescope (NASA)
• JADES Program Overview (STScI)
• Epoch of Reionization (NASA)
• Understanding Redshift (ESA/Hubble)