James Webb Space Telescope Feed Post

Webb Telescope Detects Universe’s Most Distant Organic Molecules

Cosmic smoke & telescope mirrors? Webb found complex organic molecules similar to smoke or smog in a galaxy more than 12 billion light-years from Earth. This sets a new record for the most distant detection of these big, complicated molecules: bit.ly/43M4YEG The distant galaxy in question lies behind a much closer foreground galaxy. The gravity of the foreground galaxy is so great that it distorts and magnifies the light of the galaxy behind it, making it easier to see. In space, where there’s smoke, there are stars — usually. But this galaxy might change astronomers’ long-held belief: These “smoky molecules” were abundant in some areas with little star formation, or were scarce in some areas with active star birth. Due to how far light from this galaxy had to travel, we’re seeing this galaxy as it was back when the universe was < 1.5 billion years old. The discovery suggests that complex chemistry began occurring in the universe much earlier than we thought. This image: Astronomers using the Webb telescope discovered evidence of complex organic molecules similar to smoke or smog in the distant galaxy shown here. The galaxy, more than 12 billion light-years away, happens to line up almost perfectly with a second galaxy only three billion light-years away from our perspective on Earth. In this false-color Webb image, the foreground galaxy is shown in blue, while the background galaxy is in red. The organic molecules are highlighted in orange. Credit: J. Spilker/S. Doyle, NASA, ESA, CSA Image description: On a black background, there are two notable objects. There is a foreground galaxy seen as a big bright blue dot at the center of the frame. It is surrounded by an orange ring meant to highlight the discovery of organic molecules. Near the top left of the image, there is also a distant background galaxy represented as a tiny red dot. Image & Description by NASA