The James Webb Space Telescope; Startling new discoveries challenge current theories

— Jim Varner

Image Credit: Northrop Grumman

Since the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) came online in 2022, surprising images have significantly changed our current understanding of how the early universe developed, forcing scientists to fundamentally revise their theories.

The wavelength of visible light from objects in the early universe is transformed by traveling through space which is expanding. This expansion stretches the wavelength of visible light such that it arrives at Earth shifted into the infrared portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. Unlike the visible light captured by the Hubble telescope, JWST was specifically designed to record these infrared wavelengths.

By capturing this infrared light and converting it back into the visible range, astronomers can ‘see’ further away and therefore farther back in time to the infancy of the universe. The results are startling.

Science is a very iterative process. Typically, new information allows scientists to incrementally refine their theories. Images from the JWST present another story entirely. Theories regarding galaxy formation in the early universe are being completely upended.

In a paper published in Nature, astronomers appear to have found extremely large galaxies in the early the universe. The massive objects, if confirmed, could radically change how we think about galaxy formation. Data from the JWST‘s infrared-sensing camera was used to picture the universe as it looked 13.5 billion years ago—in essence baby pictures of the early universe.

According to current theories, dust clouds slowly condensed to form stars, which in turn clustered from gravitational forces to form galaxies. But this concept doesn’t account for the massive size of these young observed objects. If the observations are confirmed, Astronomers will be charged with developing new theories that account for the rapid growth of these young galaxies.

From Amherst, Ohio., Jim obtained a B.S. in Microbiology from the Ohio State University with an emphasis in Physics. He worked in cancer research at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and at Syngene Inc., a pioneering biotech company. His career included a wide variety of technical communication projects including educational videos for the US Geological Survey, and a variety of high-tech clients. As a science enthusiast he enjoys keeping abreast of a range of science topics from astronomy to zoology. Explaining the complexities of technical topics to people in easy-to-understand terms has always been a source of great satisfaction.