Maisie’s Galaxy.
Not as old as previously thought
Not as old as previously thought
NASA (representative image)
Cosmologists are making discoveries about the age and nature of celestial bodies almost daily and, as with all science, as the information improves, theories and knowledge are either being abandoned or confirmed, so our understanding of reality improves - which is the entire point of scientific research.
This is in marked contrast with religions, where 'research' consists of trying to find new ways to stick to ancient belief and all apologetics presuppose the answer.
For instance, compare theology to a 'philosophy' based on the assumption that there are fairies at the bottom of the garden who created everything and who demand adoration and worship as the price for not doing something unspeakably unpleasant to you when you die (assuming you'd know about it and could experience it, even though you're dead and won't have a body with a sensory system and functioning brain to experience it with)!
Sound extremely childish and risible?
Yes, it does, doesn't it! And yet theologians command respect and power in society, far greater than should be given to someone because they have an imaginary friend and spends their time trying to make excuses for not having any definitive evidence for their beliefs.
What is giving cosmology this power is the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) which is sending back hugely improved data of a much higher quality and reliability of anything cosmologists have had to work with before.
For example, in a paper published in Nature a few days ago, by a team of scientists including researchers from the Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY, USA, cosmologists showed that there are very many more ancient galaxies whose red shift dates them to the very early universe, but that a candidate for the oldest such galaxy is in fact much younger than previously thought. This is because the JWST is able to measure the red shift with far greater accuracy than was previously possible.
What is the significance of the Red Shift in cosmology and how can it be used to date distant bodies such as galaxies?The news release from Rochester Institute of Technology explains the research and its significance:
The redshift in cosmology is a phenomenon in which the light from distant objects in the universe appears to be shifted toward longer (redder) wavelengths as a result of the expansion of the universe. It is a fundamental concept in the field of astronomy and has several important implications:In summary, the redshift is a crucial tool in cosmology as it provides evidence for the expansion of the universe, allows astronomers to measure the distances to galaxies, and helps determine the age of the universe. It has played a central role in our understanding of the cosmos and the development of the Big Bang theory.
- Expansion of the Universe: The redshift provides strong evidence for the expansion of the universe. When we observe light from distant galaxies, we often find that their spectral lines (lines at specific wavelengths) are shifted toward the red end of the electromagnetic spectrum. This shift is known as a redshift, and it indicates that the universe is expanding. The greater the redshift, the more distant the galaxy is, and the faster it is receding from us.
- Hubble's Law: Edwin Hubble, an American astronomer, discovered a relationship between the redshift of galaxies and their distance from Earth. This relationship, known as Hubble's law, states that the velocity at which a galaxy is receding from us is directly proportional to its distance. The formula for Hubble's law is v = H0 * d, where "v" is the velocity of recession, "H0" is the Hubble constant (a measure of the rate of the universe's expansion), and "d" is the distance to the galaxy. By measuring the redshift of galaxies and applying Hubble's law, astronomers can estimate the distances to these galaxies.
- Cosmic Time and the Age of the Universe: The redshift also allows astronomers to estimate the age of the universe. By working backward in time, they can calculate when all the galaxies and cosmic structures we observe today would have been in a single, extremely hot and dense state (the Big Bang). This estimation gives us the age of the universe, which is currently estimated to be around 13.8 billion years based on observations of the cosmic microwave background radiation.
The team's paper in Nature gives technical details:
Rochester Institute of Technology scientists have once again used data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) as part of the Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science (CEERS) Survey to change the way we think about the universe and its distant galaxies. Jeyhan Kartaltepe, associate professor in the School of Physics and Astronomy, and Rebecca Larson, postdoctoral research associate, co-authored a paper, “Confirmation and refutation of very luminous galaxies in the early Universe,” published in Nature confirming very bright galaxies in the early universe, while also disproving the identification of what would have been the most distant galaxy ever found.
Kartaltepe and Larson, along with co-authors from around the world, studied the redshift (or displacement of the spectrum of an object toward longer, red wavelengths) of several specific galaxies to see how much the light shifted, which indicates how far away the galaxies are. The CEERS team focused on Maisie’s Galaxy, which was theorized to have a redshift of z ≈ 11.5, while a team in Scotland researched a nearby galaxy that they believed could have a redshift of z ≈ 16, far larger than any ever found before.
To examine further, the two teams partnered on a proposal to receive follow-up spectroscopy. When the new data came in, the teams were able to precisely measure the redshifts of both of these candidates, along with a few others.
The group also found that because of a coincidence that mimicked the colors of a high redshift galaxy, the other galaxy is not at a redshift of z ≈ 16, but at a redshift of z ≈ 4.9. Both the initial and follow-up data from JWST turned the theories into discoveries.Spectra are how you really confirm what a galaxy’s redshift is. For these two galaxies, the answer was very clear—the spectra look completely different. We confirmed that Maisie’s Galaxy is at the high redshift we thought it was.
It shows us how powerful the telescope is and its ability to do the things it was built to do. In some ways, it performs even better than we expected. We are already learning so much about the universe early on in JWST’s mission. I think going forward we’re going to be able to build large samples over larger areas and really be able to dig deeper into the physical characteristics of galaxies in the early universe.
Jayhans S. Kartaltepe, co-author
Laboratory for Multiwavelength Astrophysics
School of Physics and Astronomy
Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY, USA
The research and the paper would not have been possible without dedicated collaboration between the CEERS team and the team in Scotland. Instead of working separately on their individual galaxies and submitting separate proposals, the partnership allowed for the follow-up spectroscopy to be accepted, and the subsequent analysis to be conducted efficiently, leading to new information about the universe.Not only did JWST find these galaxies we didn’t know about before, but then it confirmed the redshift for them. This paper in particular speaks to the power of not only JWST finding galaxies in the really early universe but also confirming and characterizing them.
It’s truly a testament to what people can do when they choose to work together. It was a great experience and I’m really glad we got to work with the team in Scotland. It’s because we worked together that any of this happened.
We are really making exciting discoveries. It’s truly just beginning.
Rebecca L. Larson, co-author
Laboratory for Multiwavelength Astrophysics
School of Physics and Astronomy
Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY, USA
When researching the data from JWST, scientists aim to find the highest redshift galaxies, or the most distant galaxies. Finding galaxies in the very early universe was one of the goals for the JWST. These and other early discoveries have proven the success of the telescope, even this early in its existence.
AbstractLet's look then at what fundamentalist Bible literalist 'science' has to say about the reliability of the biblical description of the nature of the Universe, compared to that revealed by the James Webb Space Telescope:
During the first 500 million years of cosmic history, the first stars and galaxies formed, seeding the Universe with heavy elements and eventually reionizing the intergalactic medium1,2,3. Observations with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have uncovered a surprisingly high abundance of candidates for early star-forming galaxies, with distances (redshifts, z), estimated from multiband photometry, as large as z ≈ 16, far beyond pre-JWST limits4,5,6,7,8,9. Although such photometric redshifts are generally robust, they can suffer from degeneracies and occasionally catastrophic errors. Spectroscopic measurements are required to validate these sources and to reliably quantify physical properties that can constrain galaxy formation models and cosmology10. Here we present JWST spectroscopy that confirms redshifts for two very luminous galaxies with z > 11, and also demonstrates that another candidate with suggested z ≈ 16 instead has z = 4.9, with an unusual combination of nebular line emission and dust reddening that mimics the colours expected for much more distant objects. These results reinforce evidence for the early, rapid formation of remarkably luminous galaxies while also highlighting the necessity of spectroscopic verification. The large abundance of bright, early galaxies may indicate shortcomings in current galaxy formation models or deviations from physical properties (such as the stellar initial mass function) that are generally believed to hold at later times. JWST spectroscopy confirms redshifts for two very luminous galaxies with z > 11, and also demonstrates that another candidate with suggested z ≈ 16 instead has z = 4.9.
Arrabal Haro, P., Dickinson, M., Finkelstein, S.L. et al.
Confirmation and refutation of very luminous galaxies in the early Universe. Nature (2023).
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06521-7
© 2023 Springer Nature Ltd.
Reprinted under the terms of s60 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
- 'Whatever the Bible says is so; whatever man says may or may not be so,' is the only [position] a Christian can take..."
- If [scientific] conclusions contradict the Word of God, the conclusions are wrong, no matter how many scientific facts may appear to back them.
- Christians must disregard [scientific hypotheses or theories] that contradict the Bible.
Forward to "Biology for Christian Schools" by William S. Pinkston, John A. Graham, Greg Kuzmic and Carla Vogt,
Published by Bob Jones University
Published by Bob Jones University
The Universe as described by a literal reading of the Bible
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