James Webb Space Telescope: Early History, Telescope Characteristics, and New Discoveries on High Redshift Galaxies

Abstract

Since its launch in December 2021, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has been revealing new, fascinating views of the universe. Originally envisioned to probe the early universe to understand the origin of the human kinds, JWST is now fulling the promise with discoveries of tens of high redshift galaxies in the early universe. This article briefly introduces the historical aspects of the development of the telescope, its characteristics and capabilities, early simulations of high redshift galaxies, and current observational results regarding high redshift galaxies and controversies surrounding them.