Posted on by Evan Gough

Webb Provides an Explanation for “Little Red Dots”

A team of astronomers sifted through James Webb Space Telescope data from multiple surveys to compile one of the largest samples of “little red dots” (LRDs) to date. From their sample, they found that these mysterious red objects that appear small on the sky emerge in large numbers around 600 million years after the big bang and undergo a rapid decline in quantity around 1.5 billion years after the big bang. Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Dale Kocevski (Colby College)

When a new space telescope is launched, it’s designed to address specific issues in astronomy and provide critical answers to important questions. The JWST was built with four overarching science goals in mind. However, when anticipating new telescopes, astronomers are quick to point out that they’re also excited by the unexpected discoveries that new telescopes make.

There has been no shortage of unexpected discoveries regarding the JWST, especially regarding the very early Universe.

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