Webb sees carbon-rich dust grains in the first billion years of cosmic time

Galaxy JADES-GS-z6 in the GOODS-S field: JADES (NIRCam image)

For the first time, the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has observed the chemical signature of carbon-rich dust grains at redshift ~ 7 [1], which is roughly equivalent to one billion years after the birth of the Universe [2]. Similar observational signatures have been observed in the much more recent Universe, attributed to complex, carbon-based molecules known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). It is not thought likely, however, that PAHs would have developed within the first billion years of cosmic time.




Click here for original story, Webb sees carbon-rich dust grains in the first billion years of cosmic time


Source: ESA Space News