NASA's Webb Telescope used to map the early Universe

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Astronomers have designed telescopes, in part, to be "time travelers." The farther away an object is, the longer its light takes to reach Earth.

Peering back in time is one reason why NASA's upcoming James Webb Space Telescope specializes in collecting infrared light: These longer wavelengths, which were initially emitted by stars and galaxies as ultraviolet light more than 13 billion years ago, have stretched, or redshifted, into infrared light as they traveled toward us through the expanding universe.

"It is absolutely not possible to do this research with any other telescope. Webb is able to do remarkable things at wavelengths that have been difficult to observe in the past, on the ground or in space", Finkelstein said.

What was the early universe like? There are certainly many data points, but not enough to create an exhaustive census of its conditions. Plus, researchers' knowledge and assumptions are updated frequently—each time a new deep exposure is released. "Every time we look farther, we find galaxies earlier and earlier than we thought possible."

In the months following the initial data release, the CEERS Survey researchers will create and post new tools and catalogs any researcher can use to analyze the data, including masses of galaxies, galaxy shapes, and photometric redshifts. "With the same set of observations, hundreds of researchers can conduct hundreds of science experiments," Kartaltepe said.

Source: https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2020/06/mapping-early-universe-with-nasas-webb.html