NASA’s Webb Sees Galaxy Mysteriously Clearing Fog of Early Universe

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NASA’s Webb Sees Galaxy Mysteriously Clearing Fog of Early Universe

Using the unique infrared sensitivity of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, researchers can examine ancient galaxies to probe secrets of the early universe. Now, an international team of astronomers has identified bright hydrogen emission from a galaxy in an unexpectedly early time in the universe’s history. The surprise finding is challenging researchers to explain how this light could have pierced the thick fog of neutral hydrogen that filled space at that time.

The Webb telescope discovered the incredibly distant galaxy JADES-GS-z13-1, observed to exist just 330 million years after the big bang, in images taken by Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) as part of the James Webb Space Telescope Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES). Researchers used the galaxy’s brightness in different infrared filters to estimate its redshift, which measures a galaxy’s distance from Earth based on how its light has been stretched out during its journey through expanding space.

Image A: JADES-GS-z13-1 in the GOODS-S field (NIRCam Image)

Image B: JADES-GS-z13-1 (NIRCam Close-Up)

The NIRCam imaging yielded an initial redshift estimate of 12.9. Seeking to confirm its extreme redshift, an international team lead by Joris Witstok of the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, as well as the Cosmic Dawn Center and the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, then observed the galaxy using Webb’s Near-Infrared Spectrograph instrument.

In the resulting spectrum, the redshift was confirmed to be 13.0. This equates to a galaxy seen just 330 million years after the big bang, a small fraction of the universe’s present age of 13.8 billion years old. But an unexpected feature stood out as well: one specific, distinctly bright wavelength of light, known as Lyman-alpha emission, radiated by hydrogen atoms. This emission was far stronger than astronomers thought possible at this early stage in the universe’s development.

“The early universe was bathed in a thick fog of neutral hydrogen,” explained Roberto Maiolino, a team member from the University of Cambridge and University College London. “Most of this haze was lifted in a process called reionization, which was completed about one billion years after the big bang. GS-z13-1 is seen when the universe was only 330 million years old, yet it shows a surprisingly clear, telltale signature of Lyman-alpha emission that can only be seen once the surrounding fog has fully lifted. This result was totally unexpected by theories of early galaxy formation and has caught astronomers by surprise.”

Image C: JADES-GS-z13-1 Spectrum Graphic

Before and during the era of reionization, the immense amounts of neutral hydrogen fog surrounding galaxies blocked any energetic ultraviolet light they emitted, much like the filtering effect of colored glass. Until enough stars had formed and were able to ionize the hydrogen gas, no such light — including Lyman-alpha emission — could escape from these fledgling galaxies to reach Earth. The confirmation of Lyman-alpha radiation from this galaxy, therefore, has great implications for our understanding of the early universe.

“We really shouldn’t have found a galaxy like this, given our understanding of the way the universe has evolved,” said Kevin Hainline, a team member from the University of Arizona. “We could think of the early universe as shrouded with a thick fog that would make it exceedingly difficult to find even powerful lighthouses peeking through, yet here we see the beam of light from this galaxy piercing the veil. This fascinating emission line has huge ramifications for how and when the universe reionized.”

The source of the Lyman-alpha radiation from this galaxy is not yet known, but it may include the first light from the earliest generation of stars to form in the universe.

“The large bubble of ionized hydrogen surrounding this galaxy might have been created by a peculiar population of stars — much more massive, hotter, and more luminous than stars formed at later epochs, and possibly representative of the first generation of stars,” said Witstok. A powerful active galactic nucleus, driven by one of the first supermassive black holes, is another possibility identified by the team.

This research was published Wednesday in the journal Nature.

The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s premier space science observatory. Webb is solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency).

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Laura Betz – laura.e.betz@nasa.gov
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

Bethany Downer – Bethany.Downer@esawebb.org
ESA/Webb, Baltimore, Md.

Christine Pulliam – cpulliam@stsci.edu
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md.

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Read more about cosmic history, the early universe, and cosmic reionization.

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NASA Starling and SpaceX Starlink Improve Space Traffic Coordination

As missions to low Earth orbit become more frequent, space traffic coordination remains a key element to efficiently operating in space. Different satellite operators using autonomous systems need to operate together and manage increasing workloads. NASA’s Starling spacecraft swarm recently tested a coordination with SpaceX’s Starlink constellation, demonstrating a potential solution to enhance space traffic coordination.

Led by the Small Spacecraft Technology program at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley, Starling originally set out to demonstrate autonomous planning and execution of orbital maneuvers with the mission’s four small spacecraft. After achieving its primary objectives, the Starling mission expanded to become Starling 1.5, an experiment to demonstrate maneuvers between the Starling swarm and SpaceX’s Starlink satellites, which also maneuver autonomously.

Coordination in Low Earth Orbit

Current space traffic coordination systems screen trajectories of spacecraft and objects in space and alert operators on the ground of potential conjunctions, which occur when two objects exceed an operator’s tolerance for a close approach along their orbital paths. Spacecraft operators can request notification at a range of probabilities, often anywhere from a 1 in 10,000 likelihood of a collision to 1 in 1,000,000 or lower.

Conjunction mitigation between satellite operators requires manual coordination through calls or emails on the ground. An operator may receive a notification for a number of reasons including recently maneuvering their satellite, nearby space debris, or if another satellite adjusts its orbit.

Once an operator is aware of a potential conjunction, they must work together with other operators to reduce the probability of a collision. This can result in time-consuming calls or emails between ground operations teams with different approaches to safe operations. It also means maneuvers may require several days to plan and implement. This timeline can be challenging for missions that require quick adjustments to capture important data.

“Occasionally, we’ll do a maneuver that we find out wasn’t necessary if we could have waited before making a decision. Sometimes you can’t wait three days to reposition and observe. Being able to react within a few hours can make new satellite observations possible,” said Nathan Benz, project manager of Starling 1.5 at NASA Ames.

Improving Coordination for Autonomous Maneuvering

The first step in improving coordination was to develop a reliable way to signal maneuver responsibility between operators. “Usually, SpaceX takes the responsibility to move out of the way when another operator shares their predicted trajectory information,” said Benz.

SpaceX and NASA collaborated to design a conjunction screening service, which SpaceX then implemented. Satellite operators can submit trajectories and receive conjunction data quickly, then accept responsibility to maneuver away from a potential conjunction.

“For this experiment, NASA’s Starling accepted responsibility to move using the screening service, successfully tested our system’s performance, then autonomously planned and executed the maneuver for the NASA Starling satellite, resolving a close approach with a Starlink satellite,” said Benz.

Through NASA’s Starling 1.5 experiment, the agency helped validate SpaceX’s Starlink screening service. The Office of Space Commerce within the U.S. Department of Commerce also worked with SpaceX to understand and assess the Starlink screening service.

Quicker Response to Changes on Earth

The time it takes to plan maneuvers in today’s orbital traffic environment limits the number of satellites a human operator can manage and their ability to collect data or serve customers.

“A fully automated system that is flexible and adaptable between satellite constellations is ideal for an environment of multiple satellite operators, all of whom have differing criteria for mitigating collision risks,” said Lauri Newman, program officer for NASA’s Conjunction Assessment Risk Analysis program at the agency’s headquarters in Washington.

Reducing the time necessary to plan maneuvers could open up a new class of missions, where quick responses to changes in space or on Earth’s surface are possible. Satellites capable of making quicker movements could adjust their orbital position to capture a natural disaster from above, or respond to one swarm member’s interesting observations, moving to provide a more thorough look.

“With improved access and use of low Earth orbit and the necessity to provide a more advanced space traffic coordination system, Starling 1.5 is providing critical data.  Starling 1.5 is the result of a successful partnership between NASA, the Department of Commerce, and SpaceX, maturing technology to solve such challenges,” said Roger Hunter, program manager of the Small Spacecraft Technology program. “We look forward to the sustained impact of the Starling technologies as they continue demonstrating advancements in spacecraft coordination, cooperation, and autonomy.”    

NASA Ames leads the Starling projects. NASA’s Small Spacecraft Technology program within the Space Technology Mission Directorate funds and manages the Starling mission. 

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NSTA Hyperwall Schedule

National Science Teaching Association (NSTA) Annual Conference, March 26-29, 2025

Join NASA in the Exhibit Hall (Booth #779) for Hyperwall Storytelling by NASA experts. Full Hyperwall Agenda below.

THURSDAY, MARCH 27

• 11:00 – 11:15 AM —— Do NASA Science in Your Classroom —— Marc Kuchner
• 11:15 – 11:30 AM —— My NASA Data Satellite Data for All —— Angie Rizzi
• 11:30 – 11:45 AM —— Lunar and Meteorite Sample Disk Program —— Suzanne Foxworth
• 11:45 – 12:00 PM —— DIY Digital Tools: Creating Smart Assets —— Jessica Swann
• 1:00 – 1:15 PM —— DIY: Immersive Virtual Field Trips —— Jessica Swann
• 1:15 – 1:30 PM —— Kahoot- Weather Terms —— Erin McKinley
• 1:30 – 1:45 PM —— Digital Plug and Play Lessons for Your Middle or High School Classroom —— Jessica Swann
• 1:45 – 2:00 PM —— Soar to New Heights with the NASA TechRise Student Challenge —— Marisa Cleghorn
• 2:00 – 2:15 PM —— GLOBE Clouds: Connecting Satellite Data to Your Classroom —— Jessica Taylor
• 2:15 – 2:30 PM —— Step Up to Remote Sensing with STELLA (Science and Technology Education for Land/Life Assessment) —— Mike Taylor
• 2:30 – 2:45 PM —— My NASA Data’s New Earth System Data Explorer —— Angie Rizzi
• 2:45 – 3:00 PM —— Apollo to Artemis: Sample Collection and Curation —— Kim Willis
• 3:30 – 3:45 PM —— Interactive Ways for Learners to Explore NASA Content & Assets —— Astro Materials Docent
• 4:00 – 4:15 PM —— Soar to New Heights with the NASA TechRise Student Challenge —— Marisa Cleghorn
• 4:15 – 4:30 PM —— Lunar and Meteorite Sample Disk Program —— Suzanne Foxworth
• 4:30 – 4:45 PM —— Step Up to Remote Sensing with STELLA (Science and Technology Education for Land/Life Assessment) —— Mike Taylor

FRIDAY, MARCH 28

• 9:15 – 9:30 AM —— Soar to New Heights with the NASA TechRise Student Challenge —— Marisa Cleghorn
• 9:45 – 10:00 AM —— Interactive Ways for Learners to Explore NASA Content & Assets —— Astro Materials Docent
• 10:00 – 10:15 AM —— Digital Plug and Play Lessons for Your Middle or High School Classroom —— Jessica Swann
• 10:15 – 10:30 AM —— GLOBE Clouds: Connecting Satellite Data to Your Classroom —— Jessica Taylor
• 10:30 – 10:45 AM —— Do NASA Science in Your Classroom —— Marc Kuchner
• 10:45 – 11:00 AM —— DIY: Immersive Virtual Field Trips —— Jessica Swann
• 11:00 – 11:15 AM —— Apollo to Artemis: Sample Collection and Curation —— Kim Willis
• 11:15 – 11:30 AM —— My NASA Data’s New Earth System Data Explorer —— Angie Rizzi
• 11:30 – 11:45 AM —— Step Up to Remote Sensing with STELLA —— Mike Taylor
• 11:45 – 12:00 PM —— DIY Digital Tools: Creating Smart Assets —— Jessica Swann
• 1:00 – 1:15 PM —— Lunar and Meteorite Sample Disk Program —— Suzanne Foxworth
• 1:15 – 1:30 PM —— Soar to New Heights with the NASA TechRise Student Challenge —— Marisa Cleghorn
• 1:30 – 1:45 PM —— Kahoot
• 1:45 – 2:00 PM —— Apollo to Artemis: Sample Collection and Curation —— Kim Willis
• 2:00 – 2:15 PM —— Step Up to Remote Sensing with STELLA —— Mike Taylor
• 2:15 – 2:30 PM —— SpacePhys Lab: A Heliophysics VR Experience for Education and Outreach —— Stephen Zaffke
• 2:30 – 2:45 PM —— Do NASA Science in Your Classroom —— Marc Kuchner
• 2:45 – 3:00 PM —— GLOBE Clouds: Connecting Satellite Data to Your Classroom —— Jessica Talyor
• 3:30 – 3:45 PM —— Interactive Ways for Learners to Explore NASA Content & Assets —— Astro Materials Docent
• 3:45 – 4:00 PM —— Lunar and Meteorite Sample Disk Program —— Suzanne Foxworth
• 4:00 – 4:15 PM —— My NASA Data Satellite Data for All —— Angie Rizzi
• 4:15 – 4:30 PM —— Kahoot

SATURDAY, MARCH 29

• 9:15 – 9:30 AM —— Apollo to Artemis: Sample Collection and Curation —— Kim Willis
• 9:45 – 10:00 AM —— DIY: Immersive Virtual Field Trips —— Jessica Swann
• 10:00 – 10:15 AM —— Lunar and Meteorite Sample Disk Program —— Suzanne Foxworth
• 10:15 – 10:30 AM —— Do NASA Science in Your Classroom —— Marc Kuchner
• 10:30 – 10:45 AM —— Digital Plug and Play Lessons for Your Middle or High School Classroom —— Jessica Swann
• 10:45 – 11:00 AM —— Step Up to Remote Sensing with STELLA (Science and Technology Education for Land/Life Assessment) —— Mike Taylor
• 11:15 – 11:30 AM —— DIY Digital Tools: Creating Smart Assets —— Jessica Swann
• 11:30 – 11:45 AM —— Kahoot
• 11:45 – 12:00 PM —— My NASA Data’s New Earth System Data Explorer —— Angie Rizzi

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How NASA’s Perseverance Is Helping Prepare Astronauts for Mars

The rover carries several swatches of spacesuit materials, and scientists are assessing how they’ve held up after four years on the Red Planet.

NASA’s Perseverance rover landed on Mars in 2021 to search for signs of ancient microbial life and to help scientists understand the planet’s climate and geography. But another key objective is to pave the way for human exploration of Mars, and as part of that effort, the rover carries a set of five spacesuit material samples. Now, after those samples have endured four years of exposure on Mars’ dusty, radiation-soaked surface, scientists are beginning the next phase of studying them.

The end goal is to predict accurately the usable lifetime of a Mars spacesuit. What the agency learns about how the materials perform on Mars will inform the design of future spacesuits for the first astronauts on the Red Planet.

“This is one of the forward-looking aspects of the rover’s mission — not just thinking about its current science, but also about what comes next,” said planetary scientist Marc Fries of NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, who helped provide the spacesuit materials. “We’re preparing for people to eventually go and explore Mars.”

The swatches, each three-quarters of an inch square (20 millimeters square), are part of a calibration target used to test the settings of SHERLOC (Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals), an instrument on the end of Perseverance’s arm.

The samples include a piece of polycarbonate helmet visor; Vectran, a cut-resistant material used for the palms of astronaut gloves; two kinds of Teflon, which has dust-repelling nonstick properties; and a commonly used spacesuit material called Ortho-Fabric. This last fabric features multiple layers, including Nomex, a flame-resistant material found in firefighter outfits; Gore-Tex, which is waterproof but breathable; and Kevlar, a strong material used in bulletproof vests that makes spacesuits more rip-resistant.

Martian Wear and Tear

Mars is far from hospitable. It has freezing temperatures, fine dust that can stick to solar panels and spacesuits (causing wear and tear on the latter), and a surface rife with perchlorates, a kind of corrosive salt that can be toxic to humans.

There’s also lots of solar radiation. Unlike Earth, which has a magnetic field that deflects much of the Sun’s radiation, Mars lost its magnetic field billions of years ago, followed by much of its atmosphere. Its surface has little protection from the Sun’s ultraviolet light (which is why researchers have looked into how rock formations and caves could provide astronauts some shielding).

“Mars is a really harsh, tough place,” said SHERLOC science team member Joby Razzell Hollis of the Natural History Museum in London. “Don’t underestimate that — the radiation in particular is pretty nasty.”

Razzell Hollis was a postdoctoral fellow at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California from 2018 to 2021, where he helped prepare SHERLOC for arrival on Mars and took part in science operations once the rover landed. A materials scientist, Razzell Hollis has previously studied the chemical effects of sunlight on a new kind of solar panel made from plastic, as well as on plastic pollution floating in the Earth’s oceans.

He likened those effects to how white plastic lawn chairs become yellow and brittle after years in sunlight. Roughly the same thing happens on Mars, but the weathering likely happens faster because of the high exposure to ultraviolet light there.

The key to developing safer spacesuit materials will be understanding how quickly they would wear down on the Martian surface. About 50% of the changes SHERLOC witnessed in the samples happened within Perseverance’s first 200 days on Mars, with the Vectran appearing to change first.

Another nuance will be figuring out how much solar radiation different parts of a spacesuit will have to withstand. For example, an astronaut’s shoulders will be more exposed — and likely encounter more radiation — than his or her palms.

Next Steps

The SHERLOC team is working on a science paper detailing initial data on how the samples have fared on Mars. Meanwhile, scientists at NASA Johnson are eager to simulate that weathering in special chambers that mimic the carbon dioxide atmosphere, air pressure, and ultraviolet light on the Martian surface. They could then compare the results generated on Earth while putting the materials to the test with those seen in the SHERLOC data. For example, the researchers could stretch the materials until they break to check if they become more brittle over time.

“The fabric materials are designed to be tough but flexible, so they protect astronauts but can bend freely,” Fries said. “We want to know the extent to which the fabrics lose their strength and flexibility over time. As the fabrics weaken, they can fray and tear, allowing a spacesuit to leak both heat and air.”

More About Perseverance

A key objective for Perseverance’s mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover is characterizing the planet’s geology and past climate, to help pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and is the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith.

NASA’s Mars Sample Return Program, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), is designed to send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.

The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program (MEP) portfolio and the agency’s Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed for the agency by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover.

For more about Perseverance:

News Media Contacts

Andrew Good
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-393-2433
andrew.c.good@jpl.nasa.gov

Karen Fox / Molly Wasser
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov

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NASA’s Webb Captures Neptune’s Auroras For First Time

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NASA’s Webb Captures Neptune’s Auroras For First Time

Long-sought auroral glow finally emerges under Webb’s powerful gaze

For the first time, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has captured bright auroral activity on Neptune. Auroras occur when energetic particles, often originating from the Sun, become trapped in a planet’s magnetic field and eventually strike the upper atmosphere. The energy released during these collisions creates the signature glow.

In the past, astronomers have seen tantalizing hints of auroral activity on Neptune, for example, in the flyby of NASA’s Voyager 2 in 1989. However, imaging and confirming the auroras on Neptune has long evaded astronomers despite successful detections on Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus. Neptune was the missing piece of the puzzle when it came to detecting auroras on the giant planets of our solar system.

“Turns out, actually imaging the auroral activity on Neptune was only possible with Webb’s near-infrared sensitivity,” said lead author Henrik Melin of Northumbria University, who conducted the research while at the University of Leicester. “It was so stunning to not just see the auroras, but the detail and clarity of the signature really shocked me.”

The data was obtained in June 2023 using Webb’s Near-Infrared Spectrograph. In addition to the image of the planet, astronomers obtained a spectrum to characterize the composition and measure the temperature of the planet’s upper atmosphere (the ionosphere). For the first time, they found an extremely prominent emission line signifying the presence of the trihydrogen cation (H₃⁺), which can be created in auroras. In the Webb images of Neptune, the glowing aurora appears as splotches represented in cyan.

Image A:
Neptune’s Auroras – Hubble and Webb

“H₃⁺ has a been a clear signifier on all the gas giants — Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus — of auroral activity, and we expected to see the same on Neptune as we investigated the planet over the years with the best ground-based facilities available,” explained Heidi Hammel of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Webb interdisciplinary scientist and leader of the Guaranteed Time Observation program for the Solar System in which the data were obtained. “Only with a machine like Webb have we finally gotten that confirmation.”

The auroral activity seen on Neptune is also noticeably different from what we are accustomed to seeing here on Earth, or even Jupiter or Saturn. Instead of being confined to the planet’s northern and southern poles, Neptune’s auroras are located at the planet’s geographic mid-latitudes — think where South America is located on Earth.

This is due to the strange nature of Neptune’s magnetic field, originally discovered by Voyager 2 in 1989 which is tilted by 47 degrees from the planet’s rotation axis. Since auroral activity is based where the magnetic fields converge into the planet’s atmosphere, Neptune’s auroras are far from its rotational poles.

The ground-breaking detection of Neptune’s auroras will help us understand how Neptune’s magnetic field interacts with particles that stream out from the Sun to the distant reaches of our solar system, a totally new window in ice giant atmospheric science.

From the Webb observations, the team also measured the temperature of the top of Neptune’s atmosphere for the first time since Voyager 2’s flyby. The results hint at why Neptune’s auroras remained hidden from astronomers for so long.

“I was astonished — Neptune’s upper atmosphere has cooled by several hundreds of degrees,” Melin said. “In fact, the temperature in 2023 was just over half of that in 1989.” 

Through the years, astronomers have predicted the intensity of Neptune’s auroras based on the temperature recorded by Voyager 2. A substantially colder temperature would result in much fainter auroras. This cold temperature is likely the reason that Neptune’s auroras have remained undetected for so long. The dramatic cooling also suggests that this region of the atmosphere can change greatly even though the planet sits over 30 times farther from the Sun compared to Earth.
Equipped with these new findings, astronomers now hope to study Neptune with Webb over a full solar cycle, an 11-year period of activity driven by the Sun’s magnetic field. Results could provide insights into the origin of Neptune’s bizarre magnetic field, and even explain why it’s so tilted.

“As we look ahead and dream of future missions to Uranus and Neptune, we now know how important it will be to have instruments tuned to the wavelengths of infrared light to continue to study the auroras,” added Leigh Fletcher of Leicester University, co-author on the paper. “This observatory has finally opened the window onto this last, previously hidden ionosphere of the giant planets.”

These observations, led by Fletcher, were taken as part of Hammel’s Guaranteed Time Observation program 1249. The team’s results have been published in Nature Astronomy.

The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s premier space science observatory. Webb is solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency).

Downloads

Click any image to open a larger version.

View/Download all image products at all resolutions for this article from the Space Telescope Science Institute.

Read the research results published in Nature Astronomy.

Media Contacts

Laura Betz – laura.e.betz@nasa.gov
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

Hannah Braun- hbraun@stsci.edu
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Maryland

Christine Pulliam – cpulliam@stsci.edu
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md.

Science

Henrik Melin (Northumbria University)

Related Information

View more: Webb images of Neptune

Watch: Visualization of Neptune’s tilted magnetic axis

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