Galactic peas in a pod! Last July, Webb released its very first image: the deepest and sharpest image ever seen. Zooming in on the data, scientists found 3 young, distant galaxies similar to rare, small galaxies called “green peas” in our cosmic backyard. Because the light has traveled so far to us, we’re seeing these 3 galaxies as they were up to 13.1 billion years ago. Specifically, the galactic trio share chemical characteristics — oxygen, hydrogen, and neon signatures — with “green pea” galaxies. (“Green peas” resembled green dots in their discovery images.) Due to their similarities, researchers may be able to study nearby “green peas” to learn more about distant early galaxies. Webb had some help from space’s very own magnifying glass: gravitational lensing. This means that the mass of the galaxy cluster in Webb’s image actually magnified these three tiny, distant galaxies by up to 10 times. The farthest of the 3 galaxies contains only 2% the oxygen found in a galaxy like ours. This suggests the galaxy is extremely young, as it contains very few heavy elements (like oxygen) recycled from earlier stars. Learn more at the link in our bio! Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI Image descriptions: 1. Video showing a cropped view of Webb’s very first image released: galaxy cluster SMACS 0723. The background is black, with thousands of orange and white galaxies scattered across the view. As it plays, the video highlights 3 tiny red galaxies, each placed in a small white inset box. 2 are found in the top right, and one is towards the upper left. The inset boxes are all above a very bright star with 8 long diffraction spikes, seen in the bottom left quadrant. 2. This graphic once again shows 3 inset boxes on a cropped view of Webb’s image of galaxy cluster SMACS 0723. Zoomed-in versions of the inset boxes, which can be found above, below and to the side of their tiny counterparts, show off the galaxies in greater detail. The spotlighted galaxies resemble red streaks or blobs, surrounded by white specks. #JWST #JamesWebbSpaceTelescope #Galaxies #GreenPeas #NASA #Space #Astronomy #AAS241