![]() Learn firsthand how scientists use spectra to learn about the universe by visiting the Be the Scientist: Microshutters Interactive page. Spiral galaxies are actively forming stars and make up a large amount of all the galaxies in our nearby universe. Webb’s microshutter array is not only designed to capture these longer wavelengths of light, known as infrared, but will also be able to accurately sample the light from each galaxy simultaneously to help researchers identify their type (spiral, elliptical, or irregular), their distances from Earth, their ages, and their redshifts. By comparing galaxies that existed at various times in the universe we can understand how they change over time. Although the light from each galaxy was redshifted, we still observe the galaxies as they were when that light was emitted-when the galaxies were young. Assembled from 51 exposures taken during various studies over nearly ten years, this infrared and visible-light image measures 16,000 by 12,000 pixels. Its light reflects this spiral galaxy as it existed only 370 million years after the big bang. This stunning view of M101, also known as the Pinwheel galaxy, is one of the largest images Hubble has ever captured of a spiral galaxy. The light observed in the second shows it as it existed only 420 million years after the big bang. Its light existed a mere 480 million years after the big bang, which happened more than 13.8 billion years ago. ![]() The first sample spiral galaxy at the top is the closest to Earth. The large black arrows at the left of each spectrum emphasize how far the light from each galaxy has redshifted, or stretched into longer, redder wavelengths due to the expansion of the universe, before reaching the telescope. In the graphs below, we’ve plotted the light gathered from three spiral galaxies. ![]() Spectra also tell us an immense amount about galaxies, including very distant galaxies as they existed in the early universe.
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