# James Webb Space Telescope general discussion thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Tags:** science-math\ **Created:** [December 25, 2021, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624 "2021-12-25T13:18:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 51
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2024, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/1001 "2024-03-07T08:07:45Z")
The things that the JWST is discovering are just mind-boggling. It was long suspected that the first stars were gigantic and extremely luminous (and also, for that reason, relatively short-lived) and these observations offer tangible albeit indirect insights into the earliest times of creation. This early galaxy is so old, and the early universe so small at the time, that it would be nearly 10 billion years before our sun and planets began to form, and in a sense the space itself that we inhabit did not yet exist. ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2024, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/1002 "2024-03-07T14:49:46Z")
It’s a mind bending experience to think about how the expansion of the universe means that we are outside of where the light from these stars used to be but now to see that light we have to look further out. (Does what I’ve written even make sense?) I know that words like “where” make much less sense when it’s space time itself that is expanding. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2024, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/1003 "2024-07-09T04:48:34Z")
James Webb Tekescope: “ooo - you stink!” > **[Scientists find a molecule never before found outside our solar system on a...](https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2024/07/08/science/exoplanet-sulfur-rotten-eggs)** > > An exoplanet where rain made of glass flies through the atmosphere was hiding another secret: It has an atmosphere that smells like sulfur. ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2025, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/1004 "2025-05-21T22:42:21Z")
JWT data reveals a new record holder for the most distant galaxy. The submission to the Open Journal of Astrophysics speculates that MoM-z14 “hint[s] at an abundance pattern similar to local globular clusters that may have once hosted luminous supermassive stars. Since this abundance pattern is also common among the most ancient stars born in the Milky Way, we may be directly witnessing the formation of such stars in dense clusters, connecting galaxy evolution across the entire sweep of cosmic time.” > **[JWST breaks its own record with new most distant galaxy MoM-z14](https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/jwst-breaks-record-most-distant-galaxy-mom-z14/)** > > Coming from just 280 million years after the Big Bang, or 98% of cosmic history ago, this new, massive galaxy is a puzzle, but not a mirage. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2025, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/1005 "2025-05-21T23:04:34Z")
Neat. Though I’m somewhat surprised at the metallicity of these old galaxies. I.e., I wasn’t expecting spectral lines from elements beyond lithium. I did a little more reading and it looks like Population III stars–that is, the very first generation of stars and thus virtually absent of metals–haven’t been observed yet by anyone, but it is hoped that the JWST will spot some eventually. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2025, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/1006 "2025-05-21T23:26:25Z")
Is JWST powerful enough to spot individual stars that far back? I thought we were talking galaxies and with those it doesn’t take many odd-balls to contaminate the spectra of the rest. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2025, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/1007 "2025-05-21T23:32:49Z")
Not sure. Maybe it could spot individual stars that have been ejected from a galaxy and where the light isn’t mixed up. I was thinking of not just the first galaxies, but the first few million years of the first galaxies, before any of the Pop III stars had gone supernova and spread metals everywhere. Not sure how long they’re supposed to last. Wikipedia suggests we don’t even know how big they should be. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2025, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/1008 "2025-05-21T23:52:36Z")
Guess we should let the experts figure it out. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2025, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/1009 "2025-05-21T23:59:24Z")
I found this: > **[Detection of isolated Population III stars with the James Webb Space Telescope](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2013MNRAS.429.3658R/)** > > The first Population III stars are predicted to form in minihaloes at z ≈ 10-30. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), tentatively scheduled for launch in 2018, will probably be able to detect some of the first galaxies, but whether it will also be... > The first Population III stars are predicted to form in minihaloes at z ≈ 10-30. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), tentatively scheduled for launch in 2018, will probably be able to detect some of the first galaxies, but whether it will also be able to detect the first stars remains more doubtful. Here, we explore the prospects of detecting an isolated Population III star or a small cluster of Population III stars down to z = 2 in either lensed or unlensed fields. Our calculations are based on realistic stellar atmospheres and take into account the potential flux contribution from the surrounding H II region. We find that unlensed Population III stars are beyond the reach of JWST, and that even lensed Population III stars will be extremely difficult to detect. However, the main problem with the latter approach is not necessarily that the lensed stars are too faint, but that their surface number densities are too low. To detect even one 60 M⊙ Population III star when pointing JWST through the galaxy cluster MACS J0717.5+3745, the lensing cluster with the largest Einstein radius detected so far, the cosmic star formation rate of Population III stars would need to be approximately an order of magnitude higher than predicted by the most optimistic current models Gravitational lensing can increase the amount of light that reaches Earth. But there may not be enough of them to find. ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2025, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/1010 "2025-06-26T22:53:15Z")
> **[The James Webb Space Telescope has discovered its 1st exoplanet and snapped...](https://www.space.com/astronomy/exoplanets/the-james-webb-space-telescope-has-discovered-its-1st-exoplanet-and-snapped-its-picture-image)** > > The new planet TWA 7b is also the lightest exoplanet ever to be directly imaged. Hopefully this will turn out to be a fantastic discovery, but they need to image it again to rule out the possibility it is not some background source. And to be honest I don’t see much in the image. It’s more the hint of something to my eye! ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2025, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/1011 "2025-06-27T11:49:28Z")
According to the [webbtelescope site](https://webbtelescope.org/contents/media/images/2025/126/01JVZ8QPJKPXQTB46GQ8JC3P30), they’ve “captured **compelling evidence** of a planet”..! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624.md?page=50)