New images from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) reveal galaxies with bar stars for the first time.
The discovery of so-called barred galaxies, which occurred this past (northern) summer, similar to our own Milky Way, very early in the universe, will require astrophysicists to improve their theories of galaxy evolution.
Before the Hubble Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope images had never spotted bands at such early times.
“I took one look at this data and said, “Let’s drop everything else!”said Sharda Joji, a professor of astronomy at the University of Texas at Austin. “Barely visible bands in the Hubble data have appeared in the JWST image, showing the enormous power of the JWST at seeing the underlying structure in galaxies.“, claimed It’s a statement Describe data from the Cosmic Evolution Early Science Survey (CEERS), led by University of Austin professor Stephen Finkelstein.
The team located another obscured galaxy, EGS-24268, from about 11 billion years ago, making two obscured galaxies present far back in time than any previously discovered.
Bars play an important role in the evolution of galaxies by pumping gas into the central regions, leading to star formation. The rods also help the growth of supermassive black holes in the centers of galaxies by diverting gas part of the way.
The discovery of bars at such early times shakes up scenarios of galaxy evolution in several ways.
JWST can detect structures in distant galaxies better than Hubble for two reasons: First, its larger mirror gives it greater light-gathering ability, allowing it to see farther and with higher resolution. Second, it can see through the dust better, because it is observing at longer infrared wavelengths than the Hubble telescope.
“Beer enthusiast. Subtly charming alcohol junkie. Wannabe internet buff. Typical pop culture lover.”