![]() The scientists used the JWST and gravitational lensing to study infrared light emitted from the distant galaxy to find the presence of molecules called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH).įorming near newly formed stars which give out masses of ultraviolet light, PAHs soak up that energy to become something like a cloud of smoke in space. The light from an Einstein Ring can be up to 30 times brighter than it would have been otherwise, letting scientists view objects that would normally be too distant and dim to see 'It's amazing that we can identify molecules billions of light-years away that we're familiar with here on Earth, even if they show up in ways we don't like, like smog and smoke.' 'Discoveries like this are precisely what Webb was built to do: understand the earliest stages of the universe in new and exciting ways,' Mr Phadke said. Kedar Phadke, who led the technical development of the project, said that thanks to the Webb Telescope, scientists are now able to make discoveries that never would have been possible before. ![]() The light from this Einstein Ring can be up to 30 times brighter than it would have been otherwise, letting scientists view objects that would normally be too distant and dim to see.ĭr Spilker said that this is what drew him and his team to study this galaxy in the first place, because 'it really lets us see all the rich details of what makes up a galaxy in the early universe that we could never do otherwise.' Justin Spilker, an astronomer at Texas A&M University, and lead author of the study, explained that this creates a natural 'cosmic magnifying glass' as light from the distant galaxy is bent and stretched by the gravity of the closer body into a ring shape called an 'Einstein Ring.' ![]() Yet, luckily for the researchers, SPT0418-47 is almost perfectly aligned with another, closer galaxy. Normally, using a telescope to study something so extremely distant would not be possible. This allowed scientists to observe the galaxy known as SPT0418-47 as it was when the universe was only 1.5 billion years old - about 10 per cent of its current age. ![]()
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