James Webb Space Telescope Feed Post

Webb Telescope Detects Universe’s Most Distant Organic Molecules (Einstein Ring Explainer)

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: The galaxy observed by Webb shows an Einstein ring caused by a phenomenon known as lensing, which occurs when two galaxies are almost perfectly aligned from our perspective on Earth. The gravity from the galaxy in the foreground causes the light from the background galaxy to be distorted and magnified, like looking through the stem of a wine glass. Because they are magnified, lensing allows astronomers to study very distant galaxies in more detail than otherwise possible. Credit: S. Doyle/J. Spilker Image Description: This is an infographic with a navy blue background. At the top left it says, "What creates an Einstein Ring?" In the center is a diagram. At far left is a drawing of Webb, labeled James Webb Space Telescope. In the center is a foreground galaxy, shown in blue. On the right is a background galaxy, shown in red. Arrows run in a diamond shape from the red galaxy around the blue galaxy, and to Webb. The lines are labeled "Distorted light rays." At the bottom there is another arrow pointing to the right that says "Looking further into the past." which implies the galaxy shown in red is older and farther away than the foreground galaxy, which has warped its light. At far right is the inset Webb image of the Einstein ring. In this inset, 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 in the galaxy whose light has been bent into a circle. Near the top left of the image, there is also a distant background galaxy represented as a tiny red dot. Image & Description by NASA