As we peer into the vast expanse of the universe, a new era of discovery dawns upon us. NASA's James
Webb Space Telescope has ventured beyond the known limits of space, unlocking the secrets
of the cosmos with unprecedented precision. From discovering galaxies previously thought
impossible to challenging our basic understanding of the universe, this groundbreaking instrument
has brought us closer to the elusive answers we have sought for decades. And now renowned
astrophysicist, Neil deGrasse Tyson, has finally broken his silence about the JWST
and its remarkable discoveries. What has he said? And how will it shape our understanding of the
universe? Brace yourself as we explore Tyson's thoughts on the telescope and its potential to
revolutionize our understanding of the cosmos. Imagine a space mission, a feat of human
engineering so incredible it requires a device to fold 12 times just to fit inside the rocket.
The device in question is the James Webb Space Telescope's sunshield, a massive
structure that measures 72 by 40 feet when fully expanded. Its journey to its cosmic parking spot,
a million miles away from Earth, required everything to work seamlessly, like the most
intricate of machines. Against all odds, Webb made it to its destination, and almost 1.5 years later,
it has exceeded everyone's expectations. Neil deGrasse Tyson himself admits that the
telescope's performance has surpassed the original specs, making it a true marvel of modern science.
Webb has been capturing breathtaking images of deep space from the early universe,
one after another. According to Tyson, the telescope is designed to detect infrared light
for a specific reason. He explains that there was a gap in our understanding of the universe,
where we couldn't get high-quality data from the early days. This was because stars
and galaxies emitted ultraviolet light that eventually stretched into longer wavelengths,
turning into infrared light. Webb has already observed galaxies that existed over 13 billion
years ago, and even offered a fresh perspective on planets in our solar system. “It's like a portal
that has ushered us into a new era of modern astrophysics, where we can access high-resolution
and high-quality data,” Tyson says excitedly. However, the latest discovery by JWST is nothing
short of remarkable. Against all expectations, the James Webb Space Telescope has captured images of
galaxies that shouldn't exist, and nobody knows how they came to be. The galaxies are incredibly
massive and contain fully matured red stars. The telescope was only able to detect these galaxies
as tiny reddish dots because they are so far away. These galaxies were spotted a mere 500
to 700 million years after the Big Bang, which was during the universe's earliest days. While
early galaxies were anticipated, the size of these galaxies and the age of their stars is shocking.
The discovery goes against previous notions of the universe's development and creates a conundrum for
astronomers, as it contradicts observations from the Hubble Space Telescope, which is
not as powerful as the James Webb Space Telescope. Joel Leja, an assistant professor of astronomy and
astrophysics at Penn State, explained in an email that they had a clear set of expectations for the
type of galaxies that lived in the early universe. These expectations were that they would be young
and small. Previous studies conducted with the Hubble Space Telescope and other instruments
had discovered small, blue, and baby galaxies at early times. These galaxies had recently formed
from the cosmic soup and were building their early stars and structures. Young stars typically emit a
bright blue light, but as they age, they begin to burn through their fuel and cool down, emitting a
redder glow. In ancient galaxies, the expectation was not to see old red stars. Astronomers also did
not expect to find galaxies with more mass than perhaps a billion suns. However, the reddish
dots revealed in Webb's deep fields appeared 50 times more massive than that, according to Leja.
"The most massive galaxies in our sample are estimated to have masses [two to four times
lower] than that of our own Milky Way," Leja wrote. "This was astounding — we're finding
galaxy candidates as massive as our own galaxy when the universe was 3% of its current age."
However, before they jump to any conclusions, Leja explained that astronomers need to confirm
that these strange red dots they found are not something else entirely. Even if they find
alternative explanations, they will likely require new concepts that have not been considered before.
Now, imagine you have a puzzle that you think is complete, but then you find a few missing
pieces scattered around. What do you do? You test different ways to put those pieces back
into the puzzle and see if they fit. If they do, you have a new understanding of the puzzle,
and that understanding doesn't replace what you knew before. Rather,
it becomes a deeper understanding of the puzzle as a whole. That's how science works,
according to astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson. And with this recent discovery by the James Webb
Space Telescope, it is challenging what we know about the Big Bang and the age of the universe.
During a podcast with Joe Rogan, he asks Tyson about the Big Bang and says that "I read an
article about the Webb telescope, and what they were taking into consideration is the possibility
that the Big Bang may be incorrect and that the universe might be larger and older than we think."
Then Tyson explained that when scientists test an idea in different ways and get consistent results,
they have a new understanding of the universe. That understanding doesn't replace what we
already know, but rather, it becomes part of a deeper understanding of the universe as a whole.
Tyson compared this process to the laws of motion and gravity proposed by Isaac Newton,
which worked for centuries until we observed that Mercury's orbit didn't follow those laws. The data
was correct, but something was limiting the laws. Then came Albert Einstein, who proposed a new
understanding of gravity and motion that accounted for Mercury's orbit. But Einstein's laws didn't
replace Newton's laws; rather, they were Newton's laws in the limit of low speeds and low gravity.
Similarly, Einstein's theory has limits, like the center of a black hole and the
birth of the universe itself. But these limits don't undo what we know; rather,
they offer a deeper understanding of the universe as a whole. The puzzle of the universe is not yet
complete, and scientists are still finding missing pieces. But with each new discovery,
our understanding of the universe grows deeper and more complex, and that's the beauty of science.
Tyson went on to say that related to the topic of the Big Bang, there are many experts dedicated to
tackling the singularity issue. As they do so, it leads to the possibility that our current
understanding of the Big Bang may be just a part of a bigger picture. When we combine
quantum physics with general relativity and attempt to gain a more profound understanding,
string theorists have suggested the existence of a Multiverse, which is not a mere hypothetical
idea but has been derived from the equations themselves. The age of the Multiverse is
uncertain, but we know it is older than our universe since it gave birth to it and many
other universes, guided by the laws of physics. In fact, there may exist infinite universes
in which there could be different versions of ourselves with slight variations in appearance
but identical in every other way. Joe Rogan then poses the question,
"What if there's a version where everything is the same, where everything you've ever said has been
said before, exactly in the same order?" To which Neil deGrasse Tyson responds,
"Absolutely, there's no reason to assume that everything in this universe hasn't
already played out in the exact same way in one of the infinite universes out there."
Joe Rogan further inquires, "And in an infinite number of different ways?"
Tyson affirms, "Exactly. That's what the equations show. The Big Bang is just a small part of a much
larger whole. The Universe had a beginning 14 billion years ago, and all of the features
that we've observed, like the cosmic microwave background, are still applicable. That's the
point I'm trying to make with my long answer." Further into the podcast, Tyson puts forward
a fascinating theory about the reason for the events that happened 14 billion years ago. He
likens it to rolling around in a basin, stable and comfortable until something kicks you out
of it. As you roll down the hill that you didn't know existed, you gain energy until you reach the
bottom and something stops you. The energy gained from rolling down this energy hill,
which exists in a higher dimensional space, can become an explosion, giving birth to matter and
expanding rapidly. This process occurs because the concentrated energy in a small spot has nowhere
else to go. Using the analogy of the Basin, Tyson simplifies the concept of a false vacuum,
where you can be in a place that's not the true bottom energy state of the system but
think everything is fine until you realize it's not. When you move around these Hills
and Valleys, you end up creating universes. The Multiverse theory offers this idea for free,
which means that other universes may have been birthed the same way our universe did,
giving rise to the possibility that there are infinite versions of ourselves out there.
In short, Neil deGrasse Tyson's point is that the James Webb Space Telescope's findings
are not contradicting the Big Bang theory but instead, they are adding to our understanding
of it. This incredible instrument is expected to reveal more in the months and years to come,
as it helps us to uncover the mysteries of the universe. What do you think about
Tyson's views on this topic? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.