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Astronomers have cracked the cosmic code to seeing the Universe’s distant past.
Simply take your largest, most powerful space-based observatory,
point it at the same region of sky for a long time,
and observe it over a wide range of infrared wavelengths.
As the expanding Universe stretches starlight to longer wavelengths, infrared observing is key.
Even with light-blocking neutral atoms in the way, those long wavelengths will reveal ultra-distant galaxies.
Already, early JWST data across many regions of sky has revealed galaxies beyond Hubble’s prior limits.
But to go even deeper still, more observing time of the same region is necessary.
That’s where the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES) data truly shines.
The collaboration is guaranteed a total of 770+ hours of NIRCam and NIRSpec data.
Combined, it will compose our deepest JWST view of the Universe to date.
Remarkable highlights appear, already, within these deepest-ever images.
Galactic groups and faint brown dwarfs appear side-by-side.
A stacked set of objects appears as a serendipitous alignment.
Spectroscopy reveals oxygen gas in a galaxy from 11.5 billion years ago.
The most data-rich regions will compose the JADES Origins Field.
Explore their updated maps for yourself; you might find something mind-blowing!
This article was reprinted with permission of Big Think, where it was originally published.