Articles for tag: astrophysics, Big Bang, Cosmic Dark Ages, early universe, First Light in the Universe, Star Formation

light didn't emerge unfettered after the Big Bang. Here, we see the phases following the Big Bang (top left), about 13.8 billion years ago, to present day (lower right).

Was the Early Universe Dark or Full of Light?

Jan Otte

For most of human history, the night sky has been a place where stars, planets, and faraway galaxies can be seen. But what was there before the first stars came to life? Was the universe full of light when it was young, or was it a dark void? The answer is much more interesting than ...

This artist’s impression of the water snowline around the young star V883 Orionis, as detected with ALMA.

Across 460 Light-Years, Webb Telescope Reveals Water That May Have Shaped Earth

Jan Otte

Water in the great, cold nurseries where stars birth has a cosmic fingerprint. Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have found, for the first time, a rare form of water ice surrounding a young star remarkably similar to our infant Sun. Published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, this finding implies that some of ...