Astronomers made a super cool discovery—they found the light that "switched on" the universe! This light comes from when the first stars and galaxies lit up the cosmos billions of years ago. It’s like finding the universe’s baby photos, showing us what things looked like way back then. They spotted it using advanced telescopes that can detect faint, ancient light traveling through space. This discovery helps us understand how the universe went from dark and empty to the starry place we see today. It’s a glimpse into the ultimate cosmic beginning! Credit:
Pandora's Cluster: by NASA, ESA, J. Merten (Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, Heidelberg/Astronomical Observatory of Bologna), and D. Coe (STScI), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pandora%27s_Cluster_%E2%80%93_Abell_2744.jpg
Roman Space Telescope: by NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio - KBR Wyle Services, LLC/Scott Wiessinger, KBR Wyle Services, LLC/Adriana Manrique Gutierrez, KBR Wyle Services, LLC/Jonathan North, KBR Wyle Services, LLC/Michael Lentz, NASA/GSFC/Claire Andreoli, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nancy_Grace_Roman_Space_Telescope_Beauty_Pass_Animation_2023_(SVS14359).webm
Dual Quasar: by NASA, ESA, Yu-Ching Chen (UIUC), Hsiang-Chih Hwang (IAS), Nadia Zakamska (JHU), Yue Shen (UIUC), https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dual_Quasar_(J0749%2B2255)_(2023-002).tiff
What is a Pulsar: by NASA, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:What_is_a_Pulsar.ogv
Pulsar Current Sheets: by NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio, https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4645
Millisecond pulsar: by NASA, Dana Berry, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Millisecond_pulsar_and_accretion_disk_-_NASA_animation_(hi-res).ogv
impression of the pulsar: by ESO/L. Calçada, https://www.eso.org/public/videos/eso1319a/
Animation is created by Bright Side.
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This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.
Pandora's Cluster: by NASA, ESA, J. Merten (Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, Heidelberg/Astronomical Observatory of Bologna), and D. Coe (STScI), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pandora%27s_Cluster_%E2%80%93_Abell_2744.jpg
Roman Space Telescope: by NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio - KBR Wyle Services, LLC/Scott Wiessinger, KBR Wyle Services, LLC/Adriana Manrique Gutierrez, KBR Wyle Services, LLC/Jonathan North, KBR Wyle Services, LLC/Michael Lentz, NASA/GSFC/Claire Andreoli, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nancy_Grace_Roman_Space_Telescope_Beauty_Pass_Animation_2023_(SVS14359).webm
Dual Quasar: by NASA, ESA, Yu-Ching Chen (UIUC), Hsiang-Chih Hwang (IAS), Nadia Zakamska (JHU), Yue Shen (UIUC), https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dual_Quasar_(J0749%2B2255)_(2023-002).tiff
What is a Pulsar: by NASA, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:What_is_a_Pulsar.ogv
Pulsar Current Sheets: by NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio, https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4645
Millisecond pulsar: by NASA, Dana Berry, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Millisecond_pulsar_and_accretion_disk_-_NASA_animation_(hi-res).ogv
impression of the pulsar: by ESO/L. Calçada, https://www.eso.org/public/videos/eso1319a/
Animation is created by Bright Side.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/
Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV
Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz
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Our Social Media:
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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official
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https://www.depositphotos.com
https://www.shutterstock.com
https://www.eastnews.ru
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For more videos and articles visit:
http://www.brightside.me
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This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.
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FunTranscript
00:00Right after its creation, the cosmos was shrouded in darkness.
00:04I mean, I wasn't there, but that's what most scientists are thinking.
00:08All of the stars were hidden behind a thick cloud of primordial gases.
00:12Then all of a sudden, something cleared up this fog, and the universe started shining
00:17as it finally woke up.
00:19But how did this happen?
00:21Eight faint recently-discovered galaxies might hold the answer.
00:26The Big Bang created our world around 13.8 billion years ago.
00:31At first, it was just a super-hot and chaotic boiling soup of particles.
00:36But over time, things cooled down, and particles could finally stick to each other.
00:40That's how the atoms appeared.
00:43Some helium, but mostly hydrogen, the very first element.
00:46And these first elements started creating thick gas clouds, which were very opaque.
00:52Then the first stars started forming.
00:54They were incredibly bright, emitting lots of light, including ultraviolet radiation.
01:00But even though these stars were shining, much of their light couldn't travel far because
01:04of that nasty hydrogen fog.
01:07The gas clouds absorbed and scattered any little light particles around.
01:11It was like the light was trapped around the stars.
01:14The Dark Ages lasted for hundreds of millions of years.
01:18Then everything changed.
01:21Recently the James Webb Space Telescope has spotted ancient dwarf galaxies from that epoch.
01:26Turns out, they're the ones we should be thanking for lighting up the universe.
01:31Back then, they were filled with early stars.
01:34These stars emitted tons of radiation that was so powerful that it managed not to just
01:39overcome, but break apart the hydrogen atoms in the fog.
01:43It turned them into charged particles, like particles that carry a little bit of electricity
01:48called ions.
01:50Little by little, the fog was cleared away.
01:53This process of clearing out the fog is called reionization, and this beautiful time is known
01:58as the epoch of reionization.
02:01Finally, the light was able to travel to all corners of the universe, which was a game-changer,
02:07just like humans' Age of Enlightenment.
02:11To find these little igniters, astronomers used a technique called gravitational lensing.
02:17Imagine light traveling through space like a straight beam.
02:20But just like everything in our world, even time, light obeys gravity.
02:25If it's too strong, it'll literally bend the light beams.
02:28So when the beams pass near a massive object, the object's gravity pulls on them, curling
02:34and twisting their path.
02:35That's why black holes look so creepy, as they stretch stars and space around them like
02:40some whirlpools.
02:42But it's not that creepy.
02:43A regular glass or magnifying glass does something similar.
02:48Hence the name gravitational lensing.
02:52When the lensing object is horrifyingly massive, it bends the light into multiple images of
02:57the same object, creating a creepy and mesmerizing structure called an Einstein ring.
03:04But if it's not that big, then the bending is less dramatic, and it just slightly distorts
03:09the shape of the background object, making it look kinda stretched.
03:14Gravitational lensing also helps scientists study things like the spooky dark matter.
03:19If the light looks stretched, and it's not just because of some obvious massive objects
03:25nearby, then it might be something invisible and heavy bending it.
03:29Since these 8 galaxies were too faint – no wonder they're almost as old as my unread
03:34emails – scientists had to use these gravity tricks to observe them.
03:40The team studied light from galaxies that are over 13 billion years old.
03:44Finally, they focused on a galaxy cluster called Abel 2744, also known as Pandora's
03:51Cluster.
03:52And these findings helped them understand how even little fellas played a huge role
03:56in transforming the early Universe.
03:59The James Webb Telescope is an incredible tool, and soon, it might help us look at even
04:05earlier times – at the cosmic dawn, when the Universe was only several millions of
04:10years old.
04:11Another great tool, called the Roman Space Telescope, is going to help it.
04:15It's also possible that these galaxies weren't the only helpers in this entire saga.
04:21These early massive stars were absolutely terrifying – they just don't make them
04:25like that anymore.
04:27Some estimates suggest they were 30 to 300 times more massive than our Sun, and millions
04:32of times brighter.
04:34Modern stars have some heavier elements in them, but back then, they used only the stuff
04:39available, hydrogen and helium, which is why they were so hot and shiny.
04:44But they also had very short lifespans, lasting just a few million years.
04:48For example, our Sun is 4.6 billion years old and is still going strong, thankfully.
04:55At the end of their lives, they went supernova.
04:58These colorful bursts of energy were so strong that they forged the first heavier elements
05:03in our world and spread them across the Universe, planting first seeds for the future planets.
05:09Meanwhile, the stars themselves didn't just disappear.
05:14They collapsed under their own gravity, creating the first black holes.
05:18The black holes are also known for producing insane amounts of radiation, so it's possible
05:24that they might've helped speed up the clearing of the fog.
05:28Ironically, they helped the Universe shine brighter while sucking up the light at the
05:32same time.
05:34Recent discoveries show that black holes might be much, much older than we used to believe.
05:39They probably helped new stars and galaxies form.
05:42They were millions or even billions of times the mass of the Sun.
05:46The James Webb telescope has already found a pair of early quasars – that's what
05:51we call the bright centers of galaxies – powered by supermassive black holes.
05:55It's a curious pair of quasars that are merging just 900 million years after the Big
06:01Bang.
06:02This might be the earliest and most distant pair of merging quasars ever found.
06:08The telescope has also been studying things that are called cosmic lighthouses.
06:13In scientific language, they're pulsars.
06:16Pulsars are super-dense remnants of massive stars.
06:19They form from stars that were once 4-8 times more massive than our Sun.
06:25One of the greatest things about them is how fast they spin.
06:28They're one of the fastest objects in the Universe.
06:31They might do around 700 rotations in just one second.
06:35They got their name because they behave like lighthouses – basically flickering radio
06:40waves.
06:41These beams of radiation sweep across the sky, creating a pulse-like signal that we
06:45detect.
06:47A star basically works like this – there's nuclear fusion happening inside of its core.
06:54Atoms get fused in each other, move at crazy speeds, bump, all meanwhile releasing an unbelievable
07:00amount of energy.
07:01That's why they emit tons of light and heat.
07:04Of course, all this pressure tries to push outward, sweating like crazy to expand a star.
07:10The greatest the fusion is, the more powerful and insane the star gets.
07:15On the other hand, there's gravity that's pulling inward, trying to compress the star
07:19and keep it a nice small dense ball.
07:22As long as there's balance, the star keeps living.
07:25But when it gets old and spends all of its nuclear fuel, it becomes too weak to generate
07:30the energy it needs and can't fight against gravity anymore.
07:34That's when it basically collapses under its own weight, going supernova.
07:40What's left behind is the star's core, but now it's crushed down to an incredibly
07:45small size, about 12 to 17 miles across.
07:49It's roughly the size of a city.
07:51This dense core is known as a neutron star.
07:55The material in a neutron star is so dense that just a teaspoon of it would weigh as
08:00much as 4 billion tons, like 10,000 Empire State Buildings.
08:06And all this collapse sets off a trigger, causing the neutron star to spin super fast,
08:11creating a pulsar.
08:12It's kind of like when an ice skater spins faster when they pull their arms in.
08:18Pulsars often have a smaller star friend orbiting them, although it's not always a friendly
08:23relationship.
08:24Not long ago, astronomers discovered a pulsar that was surrounded by lots of energetic material
08:29for some reason.
08:31They realized that all this material was the remnants of another much larger star.
08:36Turns out, the pulsar had been slowly destroying its friend with its terrifying radiation and
08:41particles until it basically ate the neighbor away.
08:45It's similar to how a black widow spider consumes its mate, so systems like this were
08:50called black widow pulsars.
08:53In any case, these lighthouses most likely helped the reionization process as well.
08:59A long time ago, they could be very energetic stars in small galaxies and could emit enough
09:04radiation to transform the early universe.
09:07The James Webb Telescope's mission is to find more of these lighthouses and see what
09:12role they played in the universe's evolution.
09:16That's it for today!
09:17So, hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and share it with your
09:21friends!
09:22Or, if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the Bright Side!