Comment by Griffbakes on 15/07/2022 at 12:35 UTC

4 upvotes, 1 direct replies (showing 1)

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Current JWST images look towards the beginning of the universe. What would it see if it looked away from the beginning of the universe?

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Comment by neildymium at 15/07/2022 at 21:45 UTC

8 upvotes, 1 direct replies

I think if I understand you're comment, you're asking why JWST doesn't look at more modern astronomical structures, rather than those closer to the beginning of the universe? We actually have a lot more data on astronomical objects in the late, more recent universe, than we do on the early-universe ones. This is because early-universe objects are all very far away, and their light is harder to detect. This is why it's more useful for JWST to focus on the early-universe objects.