A galaxy caught in the distant background of the James Webb Space Telescope’s first “deep field” image could help astronomers understand the chemistry of the early universe
This red blob is a distant galaxy in the background of James Webb’s “deep field” image
NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI
When the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) project released its first full-colour images last week, in among the stunning starscapes was a humble-looking graphic that has nonetheless set astronomers’ hearts aflutter. The diagram shows the fingerprint-like spectrum of light from an inconspicuous red background galaxy (pictured above) in the telescope’s “deep field” image, and its undulating peaks and troughs represent an unprecedented insight into a galaxy living in the early universe.
The spectrum itself …