The protons took more than 13bn years to reach the mirror of Nasa’s £6.8bn robot probe, but they are among the thrilling discoveries in its first year
It took a remarkably long time for the light emitted by a group of ancient galaxies to reach the James Webb space telescope last year. Astronomers have calculated that the photons were in transit for more than 13bn years – almost the entire history of the cosmos – before they reached the orbiting observatory.
The results are scientifically dramatic and have revealed that the universe was already deep into the process of star formation only a short time after its big bang birth – although the photographs themselves are scarcely stunning in appearance: a handful of smudges, a couple of glowing spheres and an image that has been described as a glowing dog bone.
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