Webb

The largest map of the universe is now available thanks to James Webb. And it can be explored as if it were Google Maps

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Astronomers They were convinced that the primitive universe was a dark place. That the galaxies took to appear after the Big Bang. But the new largest and most deep map of the universe, which extends until 13.5 billion years ago thanks to the observations of the James Webb space telescope, has just dynamited this idea. You can explore it yourself. Is called Cosmos-Weband it is not just a mosaic of images. It is a detailed catalog of almost 800,000 galaxies that covers 98% of the entire history of the universe in a specific region of heaven, thanks to the extraordinary sensitivity of the Webb Observatory. This gigantic panoramic is the result of More than 255 hours of observations of the NASA space telescope, ESA and the CSA, pointing to a region with very few stars or clouds of gas that block their vision towards the confines of the cosmos. The result is the largest contiguous image captured by the Webb to date, with more than 10,000 individual exhibitions. Comparisons are hateful. One way to understand the scale of this map is comparing it to the famous “Ultra -Profundo del Hubble”, the most detailed image of the universe in visible light. If we had a printed copy of the hubble ultraprophound field on a sheet of paper, Cosmos-Web would be a mural of almost 4 by 4 meters with the same depth. The Webb telescope observes wavelengths other than those of the Hubble, those of the nearby infrared and the middle infrared, but its instruments are so sensitive that you can see those 800,000 galaxies over 13.5 billion years in a region equivalent to three moons full in the night sky. Too much light, too soon. The great surprise of these images is not their depth, something for which the webb was designedbut what they reveal from the primitive universe. Astronomers believed that there would barely galaxies in the first 500 million years of the universe were incredibly rare, but there are approximately 10 times more galaxies than expected. “Since the James Webb space telescope went on, we have been wondering if your data They break the cosmological model“, admits Caitlin Casey, leader of the Cosmos-Web project.” The primitive universe only had about 400 million years to form one billion solar masses in stars. We just don’t know how it could happen. “ The role of Spain and open science. This monumental effort would not have been possible without a globa collaboration. And this is where Spain plays a role from the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands (IAC), which applied neural networks for the morphological classification of more than half a million catalog galaxies, an essential task to understand its evolution. But Cosmos-Web would not have been possible without the work of volunteers who, from their homes, helped for two years to process the raw data and correct artifacts of the Webb Telescope. Similarly, now anyone can explore the map and make their own discoveries. Cosmos-Web will continue to expand with new spectroscopic observations to analyze the internal chemistry of the most interesting galaxies. The main objectives are the “era of reion” (when the light of the first stars cleared the cosmic fog), the evolution of mass galaxies and how dark matter is related to visible matter. Image | Cosmos-Web In Xataka | The Webb Space Telescope observed some small red points almost as old as the Big Bang. They should not exist

Webb and Hubble telescopes watched Jupiter’s auroras at the same time. For some reason, they did not see the same

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The Great red spot, Polar cyclones, Cloud bands. Jupiter is known for its colossal dimensions and eternal storms. But their auroras are not far behind, and only now We are seeing them in detail Thanks to the power of the James Webb space telescope. A Christmas gift. Newly published with a study of Nature Communicationsthe images were captured on December 25, 2023 with the Nircam Chamber of the Webb Telescope. The most immediate conclusion is that the jovian auroras are of another level. Hundreds of times brighter and more energy than those of the Earth, not only feed, as on our planet, of the particles loaded with the solar wind, but also of the volcanic material expelled by the active moon ío. Hyperactive. The team that led the observations took a surprise when analyzing the data. They hoped to see slow and gradual changes in the auroras, but instead they found “the entire bullendo region and exploding of light”, a hyperactive show that “varied in a matter of seconds.” “What a Christmas gift was that, he left me hallucinated!” Confesses the researcher Jonathan Nichols of the University of Leicester, the United Kingdom. A mystery. To round the study, the team coordinated Webb’s observations in infrared with Simultaneous observations of the Hubble Space Telescope in the ultraviolet spectrum. And here was the puzzle: the brightest lights observed by the Webb in Jupiter’s atmosphere did not have a counterpart in the Hubble images. The webb focused on trihydrogen cation emissions (H3+), a molecule that shines intensely in infrared when high -energy electrons impact molecular hydrogen. But to produce the combination of brightness observed by both telescopes, a huge amount of very low energy particles would be needed by hitting Jupiter’s atmosphere, something that until now was considered practically impossible. What follows. The team plans to study this difference between webb and Hubble data, and explore its implications for Jupiter’s environment. Webb’s next observations will be compared with NASA Juno probe data to try to unravel the origin of the broadcast. The findings will be used to guide the Juice Mission of ESA, who travels now to Jupiter. Seven of their instruments, including their two cameras, will dedicate themselves to study the Jovian auroras when the probe reaches their destination. Its nearby measurements will help astronomers better understand the interaction between the magnetic field and the planet’s atmosphere, in addition to the moon ío. Images | NASA, ESA, CSA In Xataka | These real images were unthinkable before the Webb Telescope: they are planets orbiting other stars to 130 light years

Webb telescope has been looking for extraterrestrial life for years. He just found the strongest signal so far in K2-18b

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The finding. An international team of scientists, headed by researchers at the University of Cambridge, has just made public sulfide detection or dimethyl disulfide in the atmosphere of the exoplanet K2 –18B, which has been observing the James Webb space telescope. On earth, these molecules are only produced by living organisms, mainly marine phytoplankton. It is the strongest evidence so far of a biofirma, a sign of possible extraterrestrial life, outside the solar system. To confirm it, they will take between 16 and 24 hours of observation with the Webb Telescope, according to the study published by The Astrophysical Journal Letters. What is K2-18b. It is what is called a “subneptune”, a planet of 8.6 times the dough and 2.6 times the radius of the earth that orbits a red dwarf in the habitable zone (receiving a flow of energy from its star similar to the earth). It is 124 light years from us, in Leo’s constellation. He is also a candidate for planet Hacéano, worlds that could house global oceans under hydrogen -rich atmospheres. Webb’s first observations have already detected methane and carbon dioxide, which fits with this scenario. Reasons for optimism. When the planet passes in front of its star, part of the stellar light crosses its atmosphere. Each molecule leaves a pattern in the spectrum that scientists associate with molecules. Scientists They have seen twice the same pattern since 2023 With the Miri instrument of the Webb. We are facing the first coherent biofirma on a planet outside the solar system. Life could be more common than we think of planets greater than Earth. The planets made us would enter our external life search radar, today focused on rock worlds such as superstierras. Reasons for caution. Although on earth dimethyl sulfur is biological, researchers admit that in a world under high pressure and with an atmosphere of hydrogen, it could be the result of exotic geochemical reactions. They will need laboratory experiments and models to check.

The James Webb has found a galaxy when the universe was 330 million years old. Hide an entire enigma

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The immense capacity of the James Webb space telescope (JWST) to see the confines of the observable universe also allows us to see how our universe was billions of years ago. Recall that, the finitude of the speed of light implies that what we see further in space is also further in time, which makes JWST a kind of time machine. JADES-GS-Z13-1. The James Webb has detected again the light emitted by a very distant and therefore ancient galaxy. The telescope has captured the appearance of Jades-GS-Z13-1 as was 330 million years after big Bang. So old and distant is that its observation implies a new enigma: the enormous density of the universe in that era should prevent its observation billions of years later. And light was made. The original universe was a dark place. If we go back enough, we will reach an era in which the universe was too dense for the light emanating from its particles to travel the space. The cosmos cooled as it expanded, so, when the photons had space to move around, there were no particles to issue them. The thing changed when hydrogen atoms began to join to form the first stars and galaxies when the universe I was a few million years old. In this long process it is called reionization, a byloys in which hydrogen clouds were reactivated and emitted new light. Even in this context, the universe was dense enough to part of the radiation of these first galaxies was overshadowed by a dense layer of neutral hydrogen. This is the case of Lyman-Alfa or Lyman-α. Redshift 13. The team studied the luminous spectrum of the galaxy to estimate its red shift or Redshift. The expansion of the universe means that, in the long run, the frequency of the light emitted by this galaxy is reduced, that is, the universe, when expanding stretches the electromagnetic waves as if it were a magnet. This causes the visible light to store towards the red tones and to the infrared after long trips. The level at which the light comes “stretched”, its value Redshiftallows us to estimate the distance at which the galaxy is found that the broadcast. The observations made from the JWST Nircam instrument allowed the team estimate value Redshift of 12.9 (either z= 12.9) For this galaxy, but to confirm this value, the team decided to study the complete spectrum through the Nirspec instrument (Near-Infrared Spectrgraph), also aboard the space telescope. It turned out that they were infrastiming their distance, which was closer to z= 13. Lyman-α. However, the spectrum study caused the team to detect something strange in this galaxy, at a specific point of the spectrum, the Lyman-α radiation lamade, a type of electomagnetic emission associated with hydrogen atoms. The broadcast captured by James Webb’s instruments was much more intense than it should according to current cosmological models. The details of the study have been published In an article In the magazine Nature. Two possible explanations. In his article, the team speculate with possible explanations To this anomaly. The first involves the possibility that the stars of the galaxy, which would have been some of the earliest in the universe, would have created a “ionized gas bubble” around the galaxy. This possibility would imply that the primal stars would have been “more massive, hotter and more luminous” than the stars formed in later stages of the universe. This possibility would give us new clues about the enigmatic population of stars known as Population III and that represents precisely these early stars of the universe. The second possibility implies the existence of a supermassive black hole in the center of an active galactic nucleus. In Xataka | These real images were unthinkable before the Webb Telescope: they are planets orbiting other stars to 130 light years Image | ESA/WEBB, NASA, STSCI, CSA, JADES COLLLABORATION, BRANT ROBERTSON (UC SANTA CRUZ), BEN JOHNSON (CFA), SANDRO TACCHELLA (Cambridge), Phill Cargile (CFA), J. Witstok, P. Jakobsen, A. Pagan (STSCI), M. Zamani (ESA/Webb)

Almost 20 years ago a telescope captured a “cosmic tornado.” Now, thanks to James Webb, we know he hid a galaxy behind

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Appearances often deceive. A unbridled eye could well confuse one of the planets in our solar neighborhood, such as Venus, with a distant star. We could also see an image taken by a telescope and think that the two objects that most attract attention on it are part of the same cosmic phenomenon. This is precisely what happens in the last image of the James Webb space telescope (JWST). A cosmic tornado. While the new image seems to show a huge nebula filled by a star on the tip; What we really see It is the combination of the emanations expelled by a nascent star, called Herbig-Haro 49/50, and a galaxy located far behind in the plane. Herbig-Haro. The calls Herbig-Haro objects They are produced by the form of a star formation, specifically they are the result of the expulsion of matter during this process, matter that can accumulate in regions several light years away from the birthplace of the star. This matter “cools” emitting light both in the visible spectrum and infrared. Herbig-Haro 49/50 (HH 49/50) It is one of these objects. The appellation of “cosmic tornado” received it after the Spitzer space telescope observed it in 2006. The image did not allow to distinguish with certainty what type of object we saw at the tip of this cosmic tornado. A distant galaxy. The new image of James Webb allows us to see this luminous object with great definition, showing us the small details of a distant spiral galaxy. In its bluish center are the oldest stars. In its spirals of more reddish tones the galactic dust and areas of intense star formation would be concentrated. Comparison between the image of the Spitzer Space Telescope taken in 2006, and the last Inagen captured by the James Webb. NASA, ESA, CSA, STSCI, NASA-JPL, SSC Back to the foreground. But, let’s return to Herbig-Haro 49/50, the foreground of the image. The cloud of matter we see is within our galaxy, about 625 light years from our solar system. What we see are waves of bright hydrogen molecules, carbon dioxide and dust grains loaded with energy, red and orange tints in this false color photo. This formation is found in the Chamaeleon I cloudy complex, one of the regions with the formation activity of closer stars in our galaxy. Experts estimate that this “jet” of matter moves between 100 and 300 kilometers per second. And what about the star you are emanating? Astronomers believe that it is about cederblad 110 IRS4, a protoestrella Located at 1.5 light years From this cloud and visible in the image of the JWST, below right. Cederblad 110 IRS4 is a class I protoestrel, that is, it is in a rapid accumulation phase of matter. A combined image. The new image captured by the JWST is a combination of several snapshots taken by this telescope fruit of international collaboration. To create it Observations were combined of two of the instruments of James Webb, Nircam (Near-Infrared Camera), And Miri (MID-INFRAED INSTRUMENT). In Xataka | These real images were unthinkable before the Webb Telescope: they are planets orbiting other stars to 130 light years Image | NASA, ESA, CSA, STSCI

The Webb Telescope observed the black hole in the center of the Milky Way. Has discovered a chaotic light show

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Three years ago we saw for the first time The Supermassive Black Hole that inhabits the center of our galaxy. Now the James Webb space telescope has opened a window to study its surroundings. And it has turned out to be a chaotic show of lights that never stops. Context. In the center of the Milky Way inhabits A gigantic black hole called Sagittarius a*. Astronomers have managed to unravel the extreme dynamics of their accretion disk, the spiral of gas and dust that turns around it. To do this, they observed it for 48 hours (distributed in several periods of 2023 and 2024) using the Nircam instrument of the Webb Telescope. A disco ball. The observations revealed that sgr a* emits A continuous game of lights and flashes which is characterized by constant blinking interspersed with a series of intense eruptions. These emissions have a weak and continuous component, probably originated in the internal turbulence of the disc, and a bright and short -term component, eruptions associated with magnetic reconnection, in which magnetic fields collide and release huge amounts of energy. Fluctuations can occur in seconds or as changes that extend for days, weeks and months. The explanation. The study of these variable emissions, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letterssuggests that fluctuations intensify at major scales. According to researchers, the small internal disturbances of the disk, associated with fluctuations in density and magnetic field, generate the faint flashes, while large eruptions are related to specific events of magnetic reconnection, comparable to the solar flares, but at levels much older energy. “In our data we observe a constantly changing luminosity,” Farhad Yusef-Zadeh explainsmain author of the study. “Suddenly, Boom! A great explosion of brightness appears suddenly and then calms down, without following a fixed pattern.” This nature, apparently random, demonstrates that the accretion disc is regenerated all the time, causing between five and six and six Great daily rashes, in addition to multiple intermittent outbreaks. The lags. An advantage of the NIRCAM instrument of the Webb Telescope is its ability to observe two infrared wavelengths simultaneously (2.1 and 4.8 micrometers). This allowed researchers to compare how the brightness of eruptions with each wavelength changed. Surprisingly, they discovered that the events observed in the shortest wavelength changed shine a little before the events of the longest. “It is the first time that we see a delay in the measurements of these wavelengths,” said Yusef-Zadeh. “We notice that the longest wavelength is delayed between three and 40 seconds.” This finding is a key clue that energy particles lose energy as they cool, a process known as syncrotron cooling. New observations. Researchers now plan to make a continuous observation of up to 24 hours from SGR A* using the Webb Telescope, which will help them determine if eruptions follow repetitive patterns or if they are truly random. Each flash and every flicker on the accretion disk of the supermassive hole offers us a deeper understanding of physics on the events horizon, one of the most extreme environments in the universe. In other words, it helps us discover how space-time and matter behave under the influence of overwhelming gravity. Image | NASA, ESA, CSA, RALF CRAWFORD (STSCI) In Xataka | The Webb Telescope has managed to penetrate the nucleus of a neighboring galaxy, home to a furiously active black hole In Xataka | Telescopes from all over the world worked together in this image: the black hole of the Milky Way and its magnetic fields

There is a 2% probability that the asteroid impact the earth, but we will not know how much it measures until the webb observes it

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He Asteroid 2024 YR4 He has aroused unusual interest since his discovery on December 27. Although the probability of impact with the earth remains very low, has risen from 1 to 2% As new observations are obtained. However, astronomers are having difficulty measuring their size and have decided to resort to the most powerful space telescope in history to get out of doubt. There is a problem in how an asteroid is measured. Until now, the size estimates of 2024 YR4 have oscillated between 40 and 90 meters in diameter, a too wide range to assess the danger that would represent an eventual impact with our planet. This lack of precision has a reason and is that The size of the asteroid is calculated from the reflected visible lighta method that depends on the reflectivity of its surface. 2024 YR4 could be an object of 40 meters very reflective or an object of 90 meters very dark. As well as any intermediate option. The James Webb space telescope to the rescue. Unlike other observatories, The 10,000 million dollar telescopeoperated by NASA, ESA and the Canadian space agency, does not observe the visible spectrum, but the infrared spectrum, and with an unprecedented sensitivity. Astronomers will allocate hours of webb use to analyze the infrared light emitted by the asteroid to obtain a more precise measurement of its size and temperature. With luck, it will allow them to discern whether 2024 YR4 is at the lower or upper end of the estimated range, crucial information to better evaluate the consequences of their unlikely but possible impact. Two rounds of observation are planned. Space agencies have foreseen Two rounds of crucial observations With the Webb Telescope. The first will take place in early March, when the asteroid is at its point of greatest brightness and visibility for the telescope. The second round, scheduled for May, will allow scientists to study how the object temperature varies as it moves away from the sun, in addition to continuing to obtain data on its trajectory when the object has ceased to be visible by terrestrial telescopes. Why fluctuate the probability of impact. The 2% estimate is the most up -to -date ES has provided so far (NASA publishes a 2.1% estimate). The figure varies constantly because the calculations have been incorporating new observations that reduce the uncertainty of their trajectory. These fluctuations are, in fact, typical behavior in the estimation of the impact risk of newly discovered objects. NASA planetary defense equipment and ESA are based on orbital dynamic systems (such as Scout, Sentry, Meerkat and Aegis) that generate multiple possible trajectories for the asteroid. As less likely orbits are discarded, targeting on Earth may increase the fraction of possible impacts, although, over time, additional observations allow the threat to definitively discard. If this were not the case with 2024 YR4, we would be talking about a meteorite that could fall in countries as populated as Colombia, Nigeria or India on January 22, 2032. Then we would start talking about a mission to divert it, a task in the that We already have some practice. Image | Two of the 18 mirrors of the Webb Telescope (NASA/C. GUNN) In Xataka | The impact probability of asteroid 2024 YR4 has risen to 1.6%. The UN has already activated a special protocol

The probability that the asteroid falls on Earth has risen to 2.3%. Even the Webb Telescope is monitoring it

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The last NASA calculations They place the probability that the asteroid 2024 YR4 impact with the land by 2.3%, a figure that the European Space Agency (ESA) has confirmed with Its own 2.27% estimate. For those who have lost their account, in just one week of observations We have gone from 1 between 83 possibilities that the asteroid crosses the planet Earth to 1 between 43. The options are still low, but they are high enough for the offices of NASA planetary defense and that They have intensified their monitoring efforts. To the James Webb space telescope, 10,000 million dollars, will be monitoring The little asteroid. 2024 YR4 is not much, but with A diameter of between 40 and 90 meterscould destroy an entire city if it survived the reentry and impact an urban area. When? On January 22, 2032. Where? At some point in the strip that extends from the East of the Pacific Ocean to northern South America, the Atlantic Ocean, Africa, the Arabian Sea and the south of Asia. It should be noted that These impact estimates They are calculated taking as reference the quotient between the diameter of the earth and the width of the area of ​​uncertainty of the asteroid, generated from simulations. The problem: 2024 YR4 is moving away from Earth In an elliptical trajectorywhich hinders its detection with conventional instruments. In a few weeks it will have become so faint that even professional four -meter telescopes have trouble capturing it. As of April, it will be necessary to resort to the Webb or the Vary Large Telescope of the Austral European Observatory to continue watching it until the object reappears In June 2028. The monitoring of the trajectory of an asteroid is a dynamic process that surely gives us a roller coaster of emotions. As more observations from the asteroid and its trajectory have, the probability of impact could increase again and then progressively reduce until reaching zeroconfirming the main hypothesis: that the asteroid will pass by instead of colliding with the earth. If not, the good news is that humanity has experience in asteroid diversion. In 2022, NASA’s dart mission He showed that it is possible to alter the trajectory of a spatial object through a kinetic impact. This historical achievement is the empirical test that we have the technology and knowledge necessary to at least try to protect our planet. Meanwhile, the UN has put on alert the Space Missions Advisory Group (SMPAG), which agreed to meet again at the end of April or early May to study possible mitigation measures in case the probability of impact is maintained or increased . Image | Daniel Bamberger In Xataka | The impact probability of asteroid 2024 YR4 has risen to 1.6%. The UN has already activated a special protocol

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