No, the Webb Telescope cannot see the beginning of creation, but it can see the first stars and galaxies that formed just a few hundred million years after the Big Bang. It observes this "early universe" by capturing infrared light from distant objects, which allows it to look back over 13.5 billion years, but there was a period of a few hundred million years after the Big Bang when the universe was too hot and dense for light to travel freely.
What the Webb Telescope can see: The era of the first stars and galaxies: Webb's mission is to observe the period when the first stars and galaxies began to form and emit light.
Ancient galaxies: It can detect and analyze the light from these extremely distant and ancient galaxies, which have been traveling for billions of years. The early universe: By studying these early galaxies, scientists hope to understand how the universe evolved from its earliest stages.
Why it can't see "the beginning": The "fog" of the early universe: For the first 380,000 years after the Big Bang*, the universe was a hot, dense plasma that was opaque, or "foggy," meaning light could not travel through it freely.
The Recombination Era: The universe had to cool and expand to a point where electrons could combine with atomic nuclei to form neutral atoms. This is known as the Recombination Era, and it's when the universe became transparent.
The Cosmic Microwave Background: The oldest light that can be detected is the afterglow from this plasma, known as the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). Telescopes like the Planck satellite observed the CMB, but Webb is designed to see the first light that emerged after this point.
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* Okay. Tell me how the fuck they could possibly know that. And - another thing - how can they possibly measure the ditance of another galaxy opr universe or whatever if they tell us it is one hundred fifty millon light years away? A distance of 150 million light-years away means that the light reaching us today started its journey 150 million years ago.
That tape measure must be fuckin' HUGE. Juss' sayin'...
And yet it is crazy and looked down upon to believe in a Creator? I will take my Jesus and not worry about cosmology too much.
ReplyDeleteWell, if there was a "big bang", what caused it and what was there before the bang?
ReplyDeleteDoubtful that it could see the beginning of creation. It hasn't even caught a glimpse of Heaven yet.
ReplyDeleteIf you have to ask, you don't know enough math (and physics) to understand the answer. Or know when you're hearing BS.
ReplyDeleteNot a ding- not suggesting you can't know, but passing algebra and high school physics won't cut it. Ask again when you've got math thru differential equations and some grad school astrophysics at least.
Based on spectrographic analysis and measuring redshift (and a few other "tricks"). If you don't know what those things are, you won't understand how the distance is measured. It's worth pointing out that these things assume an expanding spatial universe, which is a well-grounded model, but still only a theory.
ReplyDeleteThe red shift is a pretty good yardstick for measuring those distances.
ReplyDeleteWhat is the difference in having faith in our Creator and having faith in the Big Bang theory?
ReplyDeleteIsn't believing in the theory of a Big Bang that can never be seen or proven just another faith-based religion?
And what if our Creator created the Big Bang?
No one said anything about faith here. As for "can't be seen", if you find a coconut under a palm tree, it's a pretty good bet that it fell out of the tree. Scientific theories work the same way: you go with what fits the model the best, and if it doesn't work, you toss it and find another. Science is God telling us to figure things out for ourselves rather than having to be spoon-fed everything.
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