Interstellar Overdrive: Astronomers Discover Farthest Galaxy

Astrophysics teacher Nathaniel Peters ’14 explains, “Since light travels at a finite speed, what we observe as ‘far away’ also means ‘old’—the light that reaches our telescopes from HD1 was emitted about 13.5 billion years ago, when the universe was about 330 million years old.”

Pictures of the galaxy were taken with the recently-aligned James Webb space telescope, the most powerful of its kind to date. Using Webb telescope’s massive, 21.3-foot mirror and infrared gaze, which allows astronomers to see very far into space, astronomers discovered the farthest celestial body known to man and were able to take high-quality pictures of it. This discovery marks a new era for astronomic exploration with the new telescope at the forefront: with the Webb telescope, astronomers can observe space in an entirely new, and high-resolution, light.

This find was acknowledged by astronomers and Hopkins students and faculty alike, although they did not agree on its significance. Julia Sotelo ’22, a former Astrophysics student, calls the discovery “exciting” as it shows “just how much the Webb Telescope will be able to uncover.” Sotelo continued, “The image is the culmination of years of work, illustrating just how much the field of astrophysics has progressed.” Peters agrees with Sotelo on the Webb telescope’s significance to astronomic discoveries, saying that, given its infrared abilities, the Webb telescope is “expected to detect about 10,000 more galaxies that are as far as HD1.” Co-Head of the Hopkins Astronomy Club Rohan Carey ’ 24 explains that some did not see much significance in the find: “At our current stage of technological development,” Carey says, “[the discovery of HD1 is] not as important when compared to other finds such as new discoveries within our own galaxy.” Carey said, given the distances between galaxies, discovering a new one “is like finding something new that is cool but can only be looked at.” Even considering the extraordinary photos the Webb was able to capture, a telescope can only do so much.

Sotelo and Carey agree that more students should study astronomy and astrophysics. Carey suggested that Hopkins bring in guest speakers that “specialize in astrophysics or astronomy” for school-wide assemblies. Sotelo described enjoying the course’s periodic “observation nights,” which helped foster her involvement in the subject and, she believes, can help generate interest in the subject for the whole student body.