+ With the discovery of the two most distant galaxies to date, + JADES broke the previous distance record (from just one year earlier). + These results were + highlighted on the NASA website of JWST. +
++ New measurements with JWST reveal the spectra of two record-breaking galaxies, the most distant of which is observed + only two hundred and ninety million years after the big bang. To call this galaxy surprising would be an understatement: + not only does it shatter the redshift record, but also all our expectations of what such early galaxies might look like. + The analysis is presented in + Carniani et al. (2024), Nature, 633, 318. +
++ In July 2023, JADES announced the discovery of the absorption signature of carbon-rich dust grains at redshift ~ 7 + (Witstok et al. 2023, Nature, 621, 267). + These results were highlighted in + a press release on the ESA website of JWST: +
++ Joris Witstok of the University of Cambridge, the lead author of + this work, elaborates: “Carbon-rich dust grains can be + particularly efficient at absorbing ultraviolet light with a + wavelength around 217.5 nanometres, which for the first time we + have directly observed in the spectra of very early galaxies.” +
++ Read the full press release and listen to a radio interview here: +
++ In December 2022, JADES announced the discovery and + subsequent spectroscopic confirmation of four of the + most distant galaxies, including the two most distant galaxies to date. + These results were highlighted on the ESA website of JWST. + New measurements with JWST have discovered and unambiguously + confirmed the most distant galaxies known to date, representing a major + breakthrough in understanding our cosmic origins and promising a bright + future for further discoveries with JWST. +
++ Previously, the first imaging surveys taken by JWST had revealed + candidate galaxies seen when the Universe was less than 2% of its + current age. Identifying and characterising these distant galaxies is + essential to our understanding of galaxy formation and, more broadly, of + the Universe as a whole. Preliminary analyses have indicated the + abundance of these candidates may violate prevailing cosmological + models of galaxy formation. Without spectroscopic confirmation of their + distances, however, these findings remain speculative. + New results from the JADES collaboration have now confirmed the nature + of four of the most distant galaxies, including the two most distant to date. + The NIRSpec instrument was able to provide spectroscopic confirmation + of four galaxies initially identified in one of the deepest NIRCam imaging + survey so far (see figure on the left). The analysis is presented in two + companion papers published in Nature Astronomy, + Curtis-Lake & Carniani et al. 2023 + and Robertson & Tacchella et al. 2023. +
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