Revisited Image of Approximately 2,500 Galaxies by James Webb Space Telescope, Originally Observed by Hubble Telescope
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has captured the deepest gaze into the universe to date, offering a breathtaking view of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF). This region, originally imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope, is now revealing over 2,500 distant galaxies with unprecedented detail and clarity [1][2][4].
A Revolutionary Leap in Cosmic Exploration
The JWST's observations, using instruments such as MIRI and NIRCam, have uncovered many faint and red galaxies—including massive, dust-obscured, and evolved ones—that were either hidden or barely visible in Hubble's data. Key differences and additions from JWST's JADES observations compared to Hubble's Ultra Deep Field data include:
- Wavelength Coverage: JWST observes in the infrared, allowing it to detect light from galaxies at much higher redshifts (earlier in cosmic history) than Hubble, which is limited to visible and near-infrared wavelengths [1]. This enables JWST to see galaxies only a few hundred million years after the Big Bang.
- Depth of Observation: The MIDIS region (part of JADES) has nearly 100 hours of exposure in mid-infrared wavelengths, producing one of the deepest extragalactic views ever, surpassing even Hubble's deepest fields [2][3].
- Galaxy Detection and Resolution: JWST resolves thousands of galaxies, revealing structures within them thanks to sharper resolution at mid-infrared wavelengths. Hundreds of these are extremely red galaxies, indicating mature stars or dust-obscured systems invisible to Hubble [2].
- Evolutionary Insights: The combined NIRCam and MIRI data allow astronomers to trace galaxy formation and evolution over billions of years with more precision, going beyond what Hubble's HUDF showed [2][4].
- Legacy and Comparison: JWST's JADES survey revisits the iconic HUDF region, extending and deepening the understanding started by Hubble with its original deep fields from the late 1990s-2000s. JWST images show many more galaxies and finer detail, capturing epochs inaccessible to Hubble [1][4].
A New Era of Cosmic Discovery
The JWST's observations of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field have been featured as a space photo of the day. The red galaxies in the image are either star-forming or highly evolved, while greenish-white galaxies are at very high redshift, seen during the first billion years of cosmic history. The image doesn't show the entirety of the Ultra Deep Field, only a section containing about 2,500 visible galaxies, four-fifths of them being truly distant, high redshift galaxies [5].
The JWST's continued observations aim to chart the development of galaxies from close to the dawn of the universe to the present day, potentially answering questions about supermassive black hole formation, galaxy formation, and the timing of star formation in the universe. The JWST's first good look at the Hubble Ultra Deep Field was in October 2022 with its Near-Infrared Camera [6].
The JWST's capture is part of the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES), which aims to probe infrared light two patches of sky originally imaged by Hubble: the Hubble Deep Field (1995) and the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (2004) [7]. The JWST's observations of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field, when combined with data from its Near-Infrared Camera, reveal details about hundreds of red, greenish-white, blue, and cyan galaxies [4].
A study of the JWST Ultra Deep Field observations has been published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics [8]. The Hubble Ultra Deep Field reveals approximately 10,000 galaxies in an area of sky just 2.4 arcminutes square, which is less than a tenth of the diameter of the Full Moon [9]. The shortest-wavelength filter (F560W) of the MIRI took the longest exposure of any single filter as part of this image, totaling 41 hours [10].
While none of the galaxies in the JWST's image are record-breakers, with the current highest redshift galaxy, MoM-z14, having a redshift of 14.4 and being outside the Ultra Deep Field, the JWST's observations still mark a significant leap in our understanding of the universe's early stages [11]. The JWST's work is still a work in progress, with many cosmological secrets yet to be unraveled.
[1] https://www.nasa.gov/feature/james-webb-space-telescope-takes-deepest-look-into-universe-to-date [2] https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/article/jwst-reveals-unseen-galaxies-in-hubble-ultra-deep-field [3] https://www.jwst.nasa.gov/content/webbLaunch/news-and-updates/2022/11/28/jwst-reveals-unseen-galaxies-in-hubble-ultra-deep-field [4] https://www.jwst.nasa.gov/content/webbLaunch/news-and-updates/2022/11/28/jwst-reveals-unseen-galaxies-in-hubble-ultra-deep-field-data-released [5] https://www.nasa.gov/feature/james-webb-space-telescope-unveils-deepest-gaze-into-universe [6] https://www.nasa.gov/feature/james-webb-space-telescope-takes-deepest-look-into-universe-to-date [7] https://www.jwst.nasa.gov/content/webbLaunch/news-and-updates/2022/11/28/jwst-reveals-unseen-galaxies-in-hubble-ultra-deep-field [8] https://www.jwst.nasa.gov/content/webbLaunch/news-and-updates/2022/11/28/jwst-reveals-unseen-galaxies-in-hubble-ultra-deep-field-data-released [9] https://www.nasa.gov/feature/james-webb-space-telescope-unveils-deepest-gaze-into-universe [10] https://www.jwst.nasa.gov/content/webbLaunch/news-and-updates/2022/11/28/jwst-reveals-unseen-galaxies-in-hubble-ultra-deep-field-data-released [11] https://www.nasa.gov/feature/james-webb-space-telescope-unveils-deepest-gaze-into-universe
- The James Webb Space Telescope's (JWST) unprecedented view of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF) has sparked interest in the news and travel sectors, as tourists may soon visit museums and exhibitions showcasing these breathtaking cosmic images.
- Scientists and researchers in the field of space-and-astronomy and technology are closely monitoring the JWST's JADES survey, as they anticipate new insights into the universe's early stages, even beyond those provided by the HUDF's original data.
- In the realm of history, the JWST's observations of the HUDF not only contribute to our understanding of the universe's evolution but also mark an important milestone in the development of telescope technology.
