It has been almost 70 years since the world lost one of the most brilliant minds of all time: physicist and Nobel Prize winner Albert Einstein. Despite the passage of time, his theories on the mysteries that the Universe conceals have been decisive for the new and striking discovery of the James Webb space telescope, the most powerful in existence.
Thanks to this powerful instrumentthe five oldest galaxies in the cosmos have been identified… so far. This indicates that their formation took place earlier than previously thought, calling into question theories about the early evolution of the universe.
Closer than ever to the Big Bang
Einstein laid the foundations for current cosmological models thanks to his famous field equation. This led to the development of the Big Bang model, which is the context in which the James Webb data is interpreted.
New galaxies discovered by the telescope would have existed “only” 200 million years after the Great Explosion which gave birth to matter, space and time. Due to the expansion of the universe, they are now more than 34 billion light years away.
The discovery, registered as part of the Extraordinary Sondeo project of the Galactic Heritage Medium Infrared Plan (GLIMPSE, according to its acronym in English), still needs to be confirmed.
Thus, for the moment, the most distant galaxy officially recognized – also observed that same year by the James Webb – remains the one named JADES-GS-z14-0, located approximately 280 million light years after the birth of the universe.
These new galaxies will receive an official name once their existence is confirmed, but it is likely that they will all have the prefix “GLIMPSE” in reference to the study that discovered them.
But, if as expected, the study passes the peer review process to be published in a scientific journal, we would be closer than ever to the moment when the Big Bang occurred.
Einstein's gravitational lens, key to discovery
There is a crucial connection between Albert Einstein and the discoveries of the James Webb telescope. Indeed, his theory of general relativity constitutes the scientific basis for understanding the phenomena linked to the exploration of the early universe.
For example, the scientist predicted that gravity could bend light. This phenomenon, known as gravitational lensing, occurs when a large mass, such as a galaxy cluster, acts like a cosmic magnifying glass.
Precisely, the James Webb telescope uses this effect to observe extremely distant galaxies. So, gravitational lenses amplify the light of these galaxies, allowing the detection of objects that would otherwise be too faint to observe.
In this case, this effect was caused by the galaxy cluster Abell S1063, located at a distance of 4 billion light years.
Light emitted billions of years ago and detected today
Einstein also postulated that space-time can expand, which implies that light from distant objects “expands” to longer, red wavelengths (red shift) as it travels towards us.
New galaxies detected by James Webb exhibit extremely high redshift values, indicating that they existed when the universe was very young. This phenomenon, described by general relativity, is essential for determining the age and distance of the first galaxies.
“In theory, it is possible to discover even older and more distant galaxies, but they would be even fainter and smaller, making them extremely difficult to detect,” said Kokorev, head of the research team.
The study indicates that the light from the galaxies studied by the GLIMPSE project wandered the universe for 13.6 billion years before reaching the mirrors of the orbiting telescope.
A theoretical framework still relevant 70 years later
Albert Einstein anticipated physical principles that underlie the observations made today by the James Webb Telescope, almost seven decades after his death.
His influence is decisive, to the point that his theoriess helped establish the conceptual tools needed by contemporary astronomers to decipher the secrets of the early universe.
Without Einstein's predictions, it would be impossible today to interpret phenomena such as gravitational lensing or redshifts. Moreover, its theoretical framework remains essential for answering fundamental questions about the origin and evolution of the cosmos.
Article reference:
– https://www.space.com/james-webb-space-telescope-earliest-galaxies-glimpse
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