Our ancient cosmos
Space scientist Maggie Aderin reveals why she included these stunning images from the James Webb Space Telescope in her new book
Our ancient cosmos
Space scientist Maggie Aderin reveals why she included these stunning images from the James Webb Space Telescope in her new book
The most powerful telescope ever launched into space is also a time machine. Ever since its launch into Earth’s orbit in 2021, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has been helping researchers better understand our cosmos by pointing its several powerful instruments – its different eyes – at our galactic neighbourhood and way beyond.
In James Webb’s Ancient Cosmos: A journey to the beginning of time, space scientist Maggie Aderin collects and explains nearly 200 images obtained by the telescope, illustrating how it is also looking backwards in time.
“We call it a time machine because it has the capability to look into the distance,” she says. “Light travels at a finite speed, and a light year is defined as the distance that light travels in a year. We're looking at objects which are sometimes over a billion light years away. Because it takes that light so long to reach us, we are looking at the ancient universe.”
The telescope itself collects infrared light that humans can't see, but the images in the book, co-written with Sarah Wild, have been coloured with analogous wavelengths of visible light. The results are stunning.
Turning to a place 650 light years from Earth, in the image below, JWST captures light that began travelling towards us in the 14th century and reveals a stellar nursery where jets of candy-coloured pink and blue shoot out of points gleaming with fiery orange and incandescent yellow. Here, two protostars are ejecting matter. Its pastel ripples serve as “a time log, detailing the history of the fiery relationship between the infant stars and their environment”, write Aderin and Wild.
Outer space may seem cold and dark, but in JWST’s eyes, it is far from it.
650 light years from Earth, the James Webb Space Telescope has captured eruptions from two protostars in the star-forming system Lynds 483. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI
650 light years from Earth, the James Webb Space Telescope has captured eruptions from two protostars in the star-forming system Lynds 483. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI
The most powerful telescope ever launched into space is also a time machine. Ever since its launch into Earth’s orbit in 2021, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has been helping researchers better understand our cosmos by pointing its several powerful instruments – its different eyes – at our galactic neighbourhood and way beyond.
In James Webb’s Ancient Cosmos: A journey to the beginning of time, space scientist Maggie Aderin collects and explains nearly 200 images obtained by the telescope, illustrating how it is also looking backwards in time.
Turning to a place 650 light years from Earth, in the image to the right, JWST captures light that began travelling towards us in the 14th century and reveals a stellar nursery where jets of candy-coloured pink and blue shoot out of points gleaming with fiery orange and incandescent yellow. Here, two protostars are ejecting matter. Its pastel ripples serve as “a time log, detailing the history of the fiery relationship between the infant stars and their environment”, writes Aderin.
The telescope itself collects infrared light that humans can't see, but the images in the book, co-written with Sarah Wild, have been coloured with analogous wavelengths of visible light. The results are stunning.
“We call it a time machine because it has the capability to look into the distance,” Aderin says. “Light travels at a finite speed, and a light year is defined as the distance that light travels in a year. We're looking at objects which are sometimes over a billion light years away. Because it takes that light so long to reach us, we are looking at the ancient universe.”
Outer space may seem cold and dark, but in JWST’s eyes, it is far from it.
650 light years from Earth, the James Webb Space Telescope has captured eruptions from two protostars in the star-forming system Lynds 483. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI
650 light years from Earth, the James Webb Space Telescope has captured eruptions from two protostars in the star-forming system Lynds 483. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI
“There's lots of movement, lots of dynamics, and lots of things happening. But for each one, when we analyse it, it gives us a better understanding of how we came into being, not just in the universe, but our own galaxy as well and our own star system.”
Aderin compares studying images and writing the book to detective work, finding both excitement and clues in the telescope’s data. James Webb’s Ancient Cosmos is divided into sections based on the distance of celestial objects being imaged, from 100,000 light years away from Earth, to 100 million light years away, to more than 13 billion light years away. The further its pages take the reader from our world, the more unknowns come to light.
“The James Webb Space Telescope is giving us a better insight [into old questions], but it's also throwing up other questions,” says Aderin. Each stunning image adds a piece to the many puzzles about the cosmos, from whether the laws of physics were different right after it started to why stars formed as quickly as they did.
At a distance of 68 million light years, the cosmos offers mesmerising sights of the barred spiralling M58 galaxy in the image below.
“There's lots of movement, lots of dynamics, and lots of things happening. But for each one, when we analyse it, it gives us a better understanding of how we came into being, not just in the universe, but our own galaxy as well and our own star system.”
Aderin compares studying images and writing the book to detective work, finding both excitement and clues in the telescope’s data. James Webb’s Ancient Cosmos is divided into sections based on the distance of celestial objects being imaged, from 100,000 light years away from Earth, to 100 million light years away, to more than 13 billion light years away. The further its pages take the reader from our world, the more unknowns come to light.
“The James Webb Space Telescope is giving us a better insight [into old questions], but it's also throwing up other questions,” says Aderin. Each stunning image adds a piece to the many puzzles about the cosmos, from whether the laws of physics were different right after it started to why stars formed as quickly as they did.
The barred spiral galaxy Messier 58, in the Virgo Cluster, is an example of a massive, star-forming galaxy, captured by the JWST. Credit: NASA, CSA, ESA, and A. Leroy (The Ohio State University)
The barred spiral galaxy Messier 58, in the Virgo Cluster, is an example of a massive, star-forming galaxy, captured by the JWST. Credit: NASA, CSA, ESA, and A. Leroy (The Ohio State University)
At 56 million light years away, the nucleus of NGC 1365 shines brightly, resembling a watchful eye made of stars and dust, in the image below.
When the light used to make these images was first emitted, the Earth was a hothouse with no ice caps and an acidifying ocean. An awful lot has changed since!
Captured by JWST, NGC 1365's nucleus shines like an Egyptian hieroglyphic eye. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, J. Lee, T. Williams (Oxford), J. DePasquale and A. Pagan
Captured by JWST, NGC 1365's nucleus shines like an Egyptian hieroglyphic eye. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, J. Lee, T. Williams (Oxford), J. DePasquale and A. Pagan
At a distance of 68 million light years, the cosmos offers mesmerising sights of the barred spiralling M58 galaxy in the image to the right.
At 56 million light years away, the nucleus of NGC 1365 shines brightly, resembling a watchful eye made of stars and dust.
When the light used to make these images was first emitted, the Earth was a hothouse with no ice caps and an acidifying ocean. An awful lot has changed since!
The barred spiral galaxy Messier 58, in the Virgo Cluster, is an example of a massive, star-forming galaxy, captured by the JWST. Credit: NASA, CSA, ESA, and A. Leroy (The Ohio State University)
The barred spiral galaxy Messier 58, in the Virgo Cluster, is an example of a massive, star-forming galaxy, captured by the JWST. Credit: NASA, CSA, ESA, and A. Leroy (The Ohio State University)
Captured by JWST, NGC 1365's nucleus shines like an Egyptian hieroglyphic eye. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, J. Lee, T. Williams (Oxford), J. DePasquale and A. Pagan
Captured by JWST, NGC 1365's nucleus shines like an Egyptian hieroglyphic eye. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, J. Lee, T. Williams (Oxford), J. DePasquale and A. Pagan
Even further in space and time, at 144 million light years away, Aderin here showcases two galaxies caught in battle, gravitationally compelled to jostle each other for billions of years until they fully merge. “When galaxies brawl, new stars burst into being,” she writes.
Another pair of galaxies that collided in the past now resemble a penguin-and-egg pair in a sort of celestial courtship, flirting at a distance of 326 million light years from Earth.
"The main way we do astronomy is with the electromagnetic spectrum. So, from radio waves right up to gamma waves. When we look at different parts of that electromagnetic spectrum and combine them together, suddenly, we get a much better view of what's going on."
If the universe speaks the language of light, collecting it wavelength by wavelength could help us build a Rosetta stone, she says.
In some of its final pages, James Webb’s Ancient Cosmos even features the most distant star humanity has ever seen.
The light from this star has been travelling towards us since the universe was about 1 billion years old. Named Earendel, which is the Old English word for "morning star", it is a fuzzy white dot that JWST can only pick up thanks to gravitational lensing, an odd effect where light bends as it passes near massive objects that distort space-time, the very fabric of our physical reality.
The telescope can see further, to about 13.5 billion light years from Earth, leaving approximately 3 million light years beyond our view, teeming with secrets of the hot, dynamic, ancient cosmos.
The furthest-known star, Earendel, is in the centre of the white circle. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, D.Coe (STScI) and A. Pagan (STSc)
The furthest-known star, Earendel, is in the centre of the white circle. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, D.Coe (STScI) and A. Pagan (STSc)
In some of its final pages, James Webb’s Ancient Cosmos even features the most distant star humanity has ever seen.
The light from this star has been travelling towards us since the universe was about 1 billion years old. Named Earendel (circled in the image below), which is the Old English word for "morning star", it is a fuzzy white dot that JWST can only pick up thanks to gravitational lensing, an odd effect where light bends as it passes near massive objects that distort space-time, the very fabric of our physical reality.
The telescope can see further, to about 13.5 billion light years from Earth, leaving approximately 3 million light years beyond our view, teeming with secrets of the hot, dynamic, ancient cosmos.
The furthest-known star, Earendel, is in the centre of the white circle. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, D.Coe (STScI) and A. Pagan (STSc)
The furthest-known star, Earendel, is in the centre of the white circle. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, D.Coe (STScI) and A. Pagan (STSc)
This image shows the Orion Bar region, bathed in harsh ultraviolet light from the stars of the Trapezium Cluster. It is an area of star formation and intense activity, ripe for study by astronomers. Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA, CSA, M. Zamani (ESA/Webb), the PDRs4All ERS Team
This image shows the Orion Bar region, bathed in harsh ultraviolet light from the stars of the Trapezium Cluster. It is an area of star formation and intense activity, ripe for study by astronomers. Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA, CSA, M. Zamani (ESA/Webb), the PDRs4All ERS Team
The NGC 346-star cluster, full of stars being formed. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, N. Habel (JPL)
The NGC 346-star cluster, full of stars being formed. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, N. Habel (JPL)
The JWST captured this image of IRAS 04302+2247, a planet-forming disc about 525 light-years away in a dark cloud within the Taurus star-forming region. Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, M. Villenave et al.
The JWST captured this image of IRAS 04302+2247, a planet-forming disc about 525 light-years away in a dark cloud within the Taurus star-forming region. Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, M. Villenave et al.
Aderin is certain that humanity will soon find ways to take a peek at that part of our universe’s history, too. After all, people have always been fascinated with the night sky. ”When I was growing up, I thought that astronomy was just ancient, [that it] was just run by white guys in togas, because you only hear about the Greeks and the Romans; you don't really hear about everyone else. But everybody has looked up. I think these images are part of that,” she says.
We may have graduated from simply using our eyes to remarkable machines like the JWST, but for Aderin, the effort continues to be shared.
“[JWST] is a marvel of engineering, and what I love is [that] it was about 10,000 scientists and engineers from all around the world that collaborated on this; I love that global unity. To understand the universe, we have to work together,” she says. Continuing to work this way stands a chance to take us even deeper into our cosmic past, even closer to how it all, and how we, began.