James Webb Space Telescope spots the two most distant galaxies ever seen at cosmic dawn
This infrared image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope was taken by the onboard Near-Infrared Camera for the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey, or JADES, program. The NIRCam data was used to determine which galaxies to study further with spectroscopic observations. One such galaxy, JADES-GS-z14-0 (shown in the pullout), was determined to be at a redshift of 14.3, making it the current record-holder for most distant known galaxy. This corresponds to a time less than 300 million years after the big bang.
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Brant Robertson (UC Santa Cruz), Ben Johnson (CfA), Sandro Tacchella (Cambridge), Marcia Rieke (University of Arizona), Daniel Eisenstein (CfA), Phill Cargile (CfA)
When Kevin Hainline saw the data on his screen, he jumped up from his desk, startled by what he saw.
In January 2023, Hainline – an associate research professor in the University of Arizona Department of Astronomy and Steward Observatory – was the first person to ever lay eyes on the galaxies JADES GS-z14-0 and the slightly less distant GS-z14-1. At the time of their discovery, these galaxies were merely two candidates among the hundreds Hainline had discovered, each one requiring careful follow-up observation to help confirm their extreme distances.
Months later, standing over his desk, he had data confirming that the international team of astronomers working on the James Webb Space Telescope Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey, or JADES, had actually found the two most distant galaxies ever seen by humans.