This photometrically derived image of galaxy JADES-GS-z13-1-LA, as acquired with a variety of JWST NIRCam photometric filters, showcases a bright galaxy that has no signs of light at wavelengths below ~1.7 microns. The intergalactic medium is extraordinarily efficient at blocking that shorter-wavelength light, but why this galaxy displays a bright hydrogen emission line that isn’t blocked presents a mysterious puzzle for astronomers. (Credit: J. Witstok et al., arXiv:2408:16608, 2024)
Hydrogen emission lines have never been seen earlier than 550 million years after the Big Bang. So why does JADES-GS-z13-1-LA have one?
Ever since its launch, JWST has revealed the cosmos in unprecedented light.
This region of space, viewed first iconically by Hubble and later by JWST, shows an animation that switches between the two. Both images still have fundamental limitations, as they were acquired from within our inner Solar System, where the presence of zodiacal light influences the noise floor of our instruments, and cannot easily be removed. The extra presence of point-like red objects in JWST images, also known as “little red dots,” has finally been explained, but other puzzles still remain. (Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Christina Williams (NSF’s NOIRLab), Sandro Tacchella (Cambridge), Michael Maseda (UW-Madison); Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI); Animation: E. Siegel)
The widespread discovery of early, bright, ubiquitous galaxies puzzled many.
This tiny fraction of the JADES survey area, taken with JWST’s NIRCam instrument, showcases relatively nearby galaxies in detail, galaxies at intermediate distances that appear grouped together, and even ultra-distant galaxies that may be interacting or forming stars, despite their faint nature and red appearance. Even though we’ve been performing JWST science for over two years, we are only beginning to probe the full richness of the cosmos with JWST. (Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, B. Robertson (UC Santa Cruz), B. Johnson (CfA), S. Tacchella (Cambridge), P. Cargile (CfA))
The galaxies that are members of the identified proto-cluster A2744z7p9OD are shown here, outlined atop their positions in the JWST view of galaxy cluster Abell 2744. At just 650 million years after the Big Bang, it’s the oldest proto-cluster of galaxies ever identified. This is early, but is consistent with simulations of when the earliest proto-clusters should emerge from the most initially overdense regions. (Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Takahiro Morishita (IPAC); Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI))
In between the two large, prominent foreground galaxies shown here, JWST has imaged a faint red object that was originally identified as an ultra-distant galaxy candidate: JADES-GS-z13-1-LA. After a spectroscopic study was performed, this galaxy has been confirmed to be at a redshift of between z=13.01 and z=13.05, placing its age as coming from when the Universe was only between 325 and 330 million years old. (Credit: J. Witstok et al., arXiv:2408:16608, 2024)
Known as JADES-GS-z13-1-LA, it appears typical of very distant galaxies in many ways.
