Distant Galaxies

In our quest to understand the variety of galaxies in our universe, astronomers want to look deeper and deeper into space. As we learned at the start of our course, looking deeper into space has the dual benefits of seeing both farther away and farther ago - back in time. The James Webb Space Telescope now allows us to view deeper than ever before. Watch this news story on JWST from 60 Minutes, which highlights how the Webb Telescope is transforming our understanding of distant galaxies and the early universe.
Read 28.1 Observations of Distant Galaxies to learn about how the color of galaxies indicates the age of their stars and the characteristics of galaxies observed in the early universe.
Explore 28.2 Galaxy Mergers and Active Galactic Nuclei to understand the role of galaxy collisions, mergers, and active galactic nuclei in the evolution of galaxies.
Check out this incredible video, which compares Simulations and Observations of Galaxy Collisions. (Note that there is no sound in the video.) I can’t resist sharing another awesome simulation - this one showing Four Galaxies Merging.
Universe Sandbox can also be used to simulate galaxy collisions and show our local group of galaxies. Check out the brief video Galaxies in Universe Sandbox.
Review 28.3 The Distribution of Galaxies in Space for an explanation of the cosmological principle, the structure of galaxy clusters and superclusters, and the distribution of galaxies in the universe.
Watch the SciShow Space clip What if the Universe Isn’t Uniform to learn more about the Cosmological Principle and recent observational challenges.