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How have the Hubble Space Telescope and James Webb Space Telescope helped astronomers study early galaxies?
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The Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope have been instrumental in advancing our understanding of the early universe through distinct observational capabilities.
- Hubble Space Telescope: Through deep surveys like the Hubble Deep Field and the Hubble Ultra Deep Field, Hubble allowed astronomers to observe galaxies as they existed only a few hundred million years after the big bang. These observations revealed that the early universe was populated by small, irregular "building blocks" rather than the grand spirals and giant ellipticals seen today, providing critical evidence for models of galaxy formation.1
- James Webb Space Telescope: As the successor to Hubble, the James Webb Space Telescope features a significantly larger primary mirror—6.5 metres compared to Hubble’s 2.4 metres—which provides vastly improved sensitivity and resolution. Designed primarily to detect infrared light, it can observe the first galaxies and protostars that are otherwise obscured by dust or shifted to longer wavelengths due to the expansion of the universe.23
Together, these observatories have transformed our view of galactic evolution, shifting the scientific consensus toward a model where galaxies grow and change through frequent collisions and mergers over cosmic time.1