Webb Space Telescope Finds Candidate for 'Most Distant' Galaxy
2022-11-23
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1NASA's Webb Space Telescope is finding bright, early galaxies that, until recently, could not be seen.
2One of these galaxies may have formed only 350 million years after the Big Bang - the event that explains the beginning of the universe.
3Researchers said recently that if the results are correct, the newly discovered galaxy could be the most distant one ever identified.
4The Webb telescope was launched last December.
5The recently reported findings suggest that stars may have formed sooner during the formation of the universe than scientists believed.
6Stars might have formed only a few million years after the Big Bang.
7An international team led by Rohan Naidu of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics detailed the latest findings in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.
8The report gives more information about two unusually bright galaxies.
9One is thought to have formed 350 million years after the Big Bang and the other 450 million years after.
10Naidu said more observations are needed by the Webb telescope before confirming that a new record has been set.
11Some researchers report having found galaxies that formed even closer to the creation of the universe, which is estimated to be 13.8 billion years ago.
12Those candidates, however, have yet to be confirmed, scientists said at a NASA news conference.
13Garth Illingworth of the University of California, Santa Cruz helped write the recent study.
14Illingworth described the current situation as "a very dynamic time," meaning a time that is active or changing.
15Illingworth added that there have been lots of "announcements of even earlier galaxies, and we're still trying to sort out as a community which ones of those are likely to be real."
16Tommaso Treu of the University of California, Los Angeles, is a chief scientist for Webb's early release science program.
17He said the evidence presented so far "is as solid as it gets" for the galaxy believed to have formed 350 million years after the Big Bang.
18If the findings are confirmed and more early galaxies are out there, Naidu and his team wrote that Webb "will prove highly successful in pushing the cosmic frontier all the way to the brink of the Big Bang."
19Brink means very close to something happening.
20"When and how the first galaxies formed remains one of the most intriguing questions," they said in their paper.
21NASA's Jane Rigby is a project scientist with Webb.
22She noted that these galaxies "were hiding just under the limits of what Hubble could do."
23"They were right there waiting for us," she told reporters.
24"So that's a happy surprise that there are lots of these galaxies to study."
25The $10 billion Webb is the largest and most powerful telescope ever sent into space.
26It is in a solar orbit 1.6 million kilometers from Earth.
27Full science operations began over the summer, and NASA has since released a series of beautiful images of the universe.
28I'm John Russell.
1NASA's Webb Space Telescope is finding bright, early galaxies that, until recently, could not be seen. One of these galaxies may have formed only 350 million years after the Big Bang - the event that explains the beginning of the universe. 2Researchers said recently that if the results are correct, the newly discovered galaxy could be the most distant one ever identified. 3The Webb telescope was launched last December. The recently reported findings suggest that stars may have formed sooner during the formation of the universe than scientists believed. Stars might have formed only a few million years after the Big Bang. 4An international team led by Rohan Naidu of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics detailed the latest findings in the Astrophysical Journal Letters. The report gives more information about two unusually bright galaxies. One is thought to have formed 350 million years after the Big Bang and the other 450 million years after. 5Naidu said more observations are needed by the Webb telescope before confirming that a new record has been set. 6Some researchers report having found galaxies that formed even closer to the creation of the universe, which is estimated to be 13.8 billion years ago. Those candidates, however, have yet to be confirmed, scientists said at a NASA news conference. 7Garth Illingworth of the University of California, Santa Cruz helped write the recent study. Illingworth described the current situation as "a very dynamic time," meaning a time that is active or changing. 8Illingworth added that there have been lots of "announcements of even earlier galaxies, and we're still trying to sort out as a community which ones of those are likely to be real." 9Tommaso Treu of the University of California, Los Angeles, is a chief scientist for Webb's early release science program. He said the evidence presented so far "is as solid as it gets" for the galaxy believed to have formed 350 million years after the Big Bang. 10If the findings are confirmed and more early galaxies are out there, Naidu and his team wrote that Webb "will prove highly successful in pushing the cosmic frontier all the way to the brink of the Big Bang." 11Brink means very close to something happening. 12"When and how the first galaxies formed remains one of the most intriguing questions," they said in their paper. 13NASA's Jane Rigby is a project scientist with Webb. She noted that these galaxies "were hiding just under the limits of what Hubble could do." 14"They were right there waiting for us," she told reporters. "So that's a happy surprise that there are lots of these galaxies to study." 15The $10 billion Webb is the largest and most powerful telescope ever sent into space. It is in a solar orbit 1.6 million kilometers from Earth. Full science operations began over the summer, and NASA has since released a series of beautiful images of the universe. 16I'm John Russell. 17Marcia Dunn reported on this story for the Associated Press. John Russell adapted it for VOA Learning English. 18______________________________________________________________ 19Words in This Story 20sort out -v. (phrasal) to understand or make sense of something 21cosmic - adj. of or relating to the universe or outer space 22frontier - n. a distant area ; the limits of knowledge in a particular field 23intriguing - adj. extremely interesting