NASA - James Webb Space Telescope - Discussion Thread 2

[Dizzy_RHESSI]

will JWST lead to more 'fringe' science

perhaps thanks to JWST news headlines about more people with 'new theories'

New physics or universe may be older than previously thought

I don't think it has lead to more fringe science. It has stimulated a lot of sensationalised and misleading headlines, which is nothing to celebrate. And then you have the bias that the initial incredible claim is published everywhere, but the slow refutation in the literature is not. For example the "universe breaking" impossibly massive galaxies, a result which turned out to be wrong.

There have always been speculative papers about cosmology, most of them very low quality. But rarely would they be picked up by newspapers. Today with endless low quality news sites looking for clicks anything will get published, with an appropriately sensationalized headline. You see that even with articles about the latest interstellar comet. It is intentionally misinforming the public.

Of those links you posted: The first has nothing to do with JWST and is perfectly normal research, nothing about an older universe. The second two links are the same story, some speculative claims by the same solo author (Gupta). In the case of the Gupta papers he was inspired by JWST, but he doesn't actually test if is age is consistent with JWST data. There a lot of fundamental problems with his convoluted model, but articles never mention that. His evidence for an older universe is purely based on his pet cosmology model. If one actually wants to claim the universe is twice as old you need some observational evidence, and to reconcile it with the total absence of stars anywhere near that old. Additionally the tired-light effect that he adds to his model has been studied to death in cosmology, it is a large assumption and messes up the Cosmic Microwave Background. A major weakness in his claims is that instead of looking at all the cosmological data simultaneously, he writes a paper one at a time. He claims he doesn't need dark matter, without explaining any of the classical tests of dark matter. He claims he can have an age of 28 Gyr, when it's the CMB that places the tightest constraint, which he has avoided so far.

[JulesVerneATV]

Check Out These Gravitational Lenses Imaged by Webb During its First Run
https://www.universetoday.com/articles/check-out-these-gravitational-lenses-imaged-by-webb-during-its-first-run

This collection of gravitational lenses spans a huge range of cosmic history. The background galaxy known as the ‘COSMIS Web Ring’ lets us peek all the way back to when the Universe was around a billion years old!
https://x.com/ESA_Webb/status/1972934847493517470#m

[JulesVerneATV]

Mysterious cosmic ‘dots’ are baffling astronomers. What are they?
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-03352-6
A consensus is emerging that the dots, sometimes called rubies, are an entirely new type of object in the Universe.

JWST's 'little red dots' could be black hole nurseries
https://www.newsbytesapp.com/news/science/we-finally-know-what-these-jwst-observations-mean/story

The Cliff (RUBIES-UDS-154183)

Are Black Hole Stars real?
https://www.mpg.de/25316826/black-hole-stars

A new class of supermassive black holes embedded in a thick gas shell could explain small red dots in images from the James Webb Space Telescope

JWST May Have Found The First Direct Evidence of a Primordial Black Hole
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/jwst-may-found-first-direct-030121981.html


LRDs some first thought their age was 'older than the Universe' but they now, appear to have existed between 0.6 and 1.6 billion years after the Big Bang with a most found around 600 million years post-Big Bang. Original reports identified LRDs as a type of early active galaxy cores or galactic nucleus AGN with a  a supermassive black hole this would explain the age and appearance but they don't have the same characteristics as known AGNs...so now its something else?  the quasi-stars or quasistar also called a black hole star is a class of hypothetical type of extremely massive and luminous star that may have existed early in the history of the universe.  JWST/NIRSpec Observations of High-ionization Emission Lines in Galaxies at High Redshift
No [CII] or dust detection in two Little Red Dots at zspec > 7
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/389580928_No_CII_or_dust_detection_in_two_Little_Red_Dots_at_z_rm_spec_7
Deciphering the JWST spectrum of a ‘little red dot’ at z ∼ 4.53: An obscured AGN and its star-forming host
https://web.archive.org/web/20250816235936/https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/pdf/2024/11/aa48857-23.pdf

[leovinus]

To me, the discovery of the Little Red Dots (LRD) is one of the most exciting JWST discoveries so far. A discovery to challenge  cosmology models. Something new to learn from. I hope there will be many more discoveries like this.

[JulesVerneATV]

James Webb Space Telescope could illuminate dark matter in a way scientists didn't realize
https://www.space.com/astronomy/dark-universe/james-webb-space-telescope-could-illuminate-dark-matter-in-a-way-scientists-didnt-realize

[JulesVerneATV]

'Platypus' objects in the early universe look like stars but behave like galaxies
https://phys.org/news/2026-01-platypus-early-universe-stars-galaxies.html

As Puzzling As A Platypus: The JWST Finds Some Hard To Categorize Objects
https://www.universetoday.com/articles/as-puzzling-as-a-platypus-the-jwst-finds-some-hard-to-categorize-objects
Astronomers found a handful of unusual objects in JWST survey data. These 9 point sources are being called 'Astronomy's Platypus' because, like the animal, they seem to defy categorization.

In the end, the researchers conclude that they're almost certainly seeing a new population of galaxies. They could be a new kind of AGN that are in very faint galaxies, "low-luminosity and hostless," as they describe it in their paper. They could be a new kind of star-forming galaxy.

To find out for sure, two things are needed: a larger sample of these 'platypuses', and higher-resolution spectra.

"Regardless of their exact nature, this population of point-like, narrow-line objects deserve further investigations, and deeper, medium-resolution spectroscopy will be critical in the future diagnostics," the authors write in their paper's conclusion.

The JWST has a track record of revealing things in the early Universe that are forcing us to rethink what we know. That's the point of building it and launching it. To discover things that force researchers to work harder to explain them, thereby advancing our scientific horizons.

Press Conference

[jacqmans]

Webb reveals Helix Nebula in glistening detail
20/01/2026

One of the closest planetary nebulas to Earth, the Helix Nebula has become a favorite among astronomers using ground- and space-based telescopes to study the final moments of a dying star in detail. The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has now zoomed in this familiar object, offering the clearest infrared look yet.

This gives us an up-close view of the possible eventual fate of our own Sun and planetary system. In Webb’s high-resolution look, the structure of the gas being shed off by a dying star comes into full focus. The image is more than just striking, it reveals how stars recycle their material back into the cosmos, seeding future generations of stars and planets.

In the image from Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera), pillars that look like comets with extended tails trace the circumference of the inner region of an expanding shell of gas. Here, blistering winds of hot gas from the dying star are crashing into colder shells of dust and gas that were shed earlier in its life, sculpting the nebula’s remarkable structure. This happens when a lighter, faster-moving material pushes into a heavier, slower-moving one, like oil trying to push through water.

The iconic Helix Nebula has been imaged by many ground- and space-based observatories over the nearly two centuries since it was discovered. Webb’s near-infrared view of the target brings these knots to the forefront compared to the ethereal image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Additionally, the new near-infrared look shows the stark transition between the hottest gas to the coolest gas as the shell expands out from the central white dwarf.

This blazing white dwarf, the leftover core of the dying star, lies right at the heart of the nebula, out of the frame of the Webb image. Its intense radiation lights up the surrounding gas, creating a rainbow of features: hot ionized gas near the center (the top of the Webb image), cooler molecular hydrogen farther out, and protective pockets where more complex molecules can begin to form within dust clouds. This interaction is vital, as it’s the raw material from which new planets may one day form in other star systems.

In Webb’s image of the Helix Nebula, color represents this temperature and chemistry. A touch of a blue hue marks the hottest gas in this field, energized by intense ultraviolet light. Farther out, the gas cools into the yellow regions where hydrogen atoms join into molecules. At the outer edges, the reddish tones trace the coolest material, where gas begins to thin and dust can take shape. Together, the colors show the star’ s final breath transforming into the raw ingredients for new worlds, adding to the wealth of knowledge gained from Webb about the origin of planets.

The Helix Nebula is located 650 light-years away from Earth in the constellation Aquarius. It remains a favorite among stargazers and professional astronomers alike due to its relative proximity to Earth, and striking appearance.

[Image description: A closeup of a small section of the Helix Nebula, an expanding shell of gas and dust. Thousands of orange and gold comet-like pillars stream upward from the bottom, like thin liquid blown up a sheet of glass. These pillars are around the circumference of the arced shell, which forms a partial orange semi-circle at the bottom. The pillars are more numerous and denser at the bottom, and darker red. They fade to orange and then yellow in the arc. In the top two-thirds, they are thinner and more golden, and it’s easier to see the black background of space. Several bright blue stars, some with diffraction spikes, are scattered throughout. A few larger stars are on the right side.]

[Star One]

Artemis II’s Possible Impact on JWST Science Operations

NASA has recently begun preparations for the Artemis II mission, which will send four astronauts on a journey around the Moon. The Artemis missions share the Deep Space Network (DSN) with other missions, including JWST. The DSN is a limited resource and when different missions compete for that resource human spaceflight is the top priority.

There are multiple launch opportunities for Artemis II during February to April 2026. The JWST operations team has been considering potential DSN limitations or outages and developing mitigation strategies for these windows, such as replanning science visits to work around DSN shortages.

The goal is to preserve mission safety while enabling as much science as possible. If Artemis II launches in February, the impact on JWST DSN usage will be negligible. A March launch will result in modest but manageable impacts. If the launch slips to April, JWST may execute significantly fewer science observations for approximately one week, depending on the exact launch date.

As the Artemis II launch date is finalized, we will keep the JWST science community informed about potential impacts and mitigation plans.

https://astrobiology.com/2026/01/artemis-iis-possible-impact-on-jwst-science-operations.html

[JulesVerneATV]

To me, the discovery of the Little Red Dots (LRD) is one of the most exciting JWST discoveries so far. A discovery to challenge  cosmology models. Something new to learn from. I hope there will be many more discoveries like this.

Early universe’s ‘little red dots’ may be black hole stars
https://www.science.org/content/article/early-universe-s-little-red-dots-may-be-black-hole-stars

[robertross]

From the updates thread...

Webb gazes further back in time
28/01/2026

The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has topped itself once again, delivering on its promise to push the boundaries of its observations closer to cosmic dawn with the confirmation of a bright galaxy that existed 280 million years after the Big Bang.

...
https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Webb/Webb_gazes_further_back_in_time#msdynmkt_trackingcontext=7d4b48e5-5266-4665-951b-564d89bd0100

In looking at this image, I was curious to see the positions of some of the galaxies.
You can make out a corkscrew trajectory, in some ways a bit like high energy collisions you see from the CERN collider.
You can imagine the gases coalescing in the corkscrew to create the galaxies in the eddy currents...

Super amazing.

[JulesVerneATV]

Is the Universe Older Than We Think? Part 4: The Changing Lambda-scape
https://www.universetoday.com/articles/is-the-universe-older-than-we-think-part-4-the-changing-lambda-scape