Data captured by the James Webb Space Telescope as part of the ongoing Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science survey takes viewers on trip back in time to a never-before-seen galaxy that was shining just 390 million years after the Big Bang. The video is based on data from 5,000 galaxies in a vast swath between Ursa Major and Boötes that includes about 100,000 galaxies altogether. Data from Webb and earlier observations by the Hubble Space Telescope were combined to determine the distances to target galaxies, taking viewers all the way back to “Maisie’s Galaxy,” which formed about 13.4 billion years ago. Each second of the video amounts to traveling 200 million years further into the past. We recommend full-screen viewing!
Credits:
Visualization:
Frank Summers (STScI), Greg Bacon (STScI), Joseph DePasquale (STScI), Leah Hustak (STScI), Joseph Olmsted (STScI), Alyssa Pagan (STScI)
Science:
Steve Finkelstein (UT Austin), Rebecca Larson (RIT), Micaela Bagley (UT Austin)
Music
“Spring Morning,” Maarten Schellekens