The James Webb Space Telescope Is Fueling Galactic Controversy

Short Wave

NPR

Daily News, Nature, Life Sciences, Astronomy, Science, News

4.7 • 6K Ratings

🗓️ 18 September 2023

⏱️ 15 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

We're entering a new era of astrophysics. The James Webb Space Telescope is helping scientists test existing ideas and models of how the universe was created—on a whole new level. This telescope is sending back images of galaxies forming under a billion years after the Big Bang—way earlier than astronomers had previously expected. Not only that, scientists had anticipated that later—but still very early—galaxies would be small, barely formed blobs; instead, the galaxies in these images have spiral arms. So, today's show is all about GALACTIC CONTROVERSY! Computational astrophysicist Jorge Moreno talks with fellow astronomer and Short Wave's Scientist in Residence Regina G. Barber about how these new findings are stirring up controversy in the scientific community and the lessons we can learn from galaxies.

Questions or controversies? Email us at [email protected].

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	This message comes from NPR Sponsor Mass Mutual.
0:03.5	Don't let the day-to-day of running your business keep you from planning for tomorrow.
0:07.8	Start preparing for the future.
0:09.5	Talk to a Mass Mutual Financial Professional today.
0:12.5	Feel comfortable about tomorrow.
0:15.5	You're listening to Shortwave.
0:18.0	From NPR.
0:23.0	We're entering a new era of astrophysics.
0:26.5	One more of the ideas and models of how the universe was created are being tested.
0:31.5	Thanks to the James Webb Space Telescope.
0:34.0	JWST is so powerful that with it we can now see deeper and sharper images of the distant universe than ever before.
0:41.5	If you were a historian you would go into the oldest archives to look for the earliest times in our history.
0:47.5	If you were a paleontologist you would dig deeper and deeper to find the oldest poems.
0:52.0	In astronomy what we do is look at our history but we don't have a time machine so what we do is we look at really far away distances.
0:59.0	Dr. Jorge Moreno and astrophysicist at Pomona College says that these images they show what the universe look like within the first few billion years of the Big Bang.
1:08.0	For reference the entire timeline of the universe is about 13.8 billion years.
1:14.0	The Big Bang gave us this really hot and then soup.
1:17.0	But because the universe is expanding that soup cooled down and we made the first atoms.
1:22.0	And then those atoms and that dark matter created the first stars and galaxies.
1:26.0	And then those galaxies merge with each other and made really bright galaxies and quasars.
1:31.0	And that's what we call cosmic noon when the growth of galaxy formation is its most active.
1:36.0	But the early stages, the early morning part of that process, that's what we're beginning to see with JWST.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of NPR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.