In science, it’s often said that the data doesn’t care what you think. That is especially true when it comes to sophisticated new tools like the the universe to the unexpected brightness of early galaxies, the James Webb Space Telescope has already prompted scientists to reconsider how the early universe once operated, leading to revelations that could trigger major shifts in our models of the universe during the next decade or more of the JWST’s tenure.
The data from the telescope "paints a consistent and consistently new picture" of the early universe, said panelist Mike Boylan-Kolchin, a theoretical astrophysicist at the University of Texas at Austin.
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Just because it was impossible to know what the JWST might see, however, doesn't mean scientists didn’t try. Still, it was tough. Arguably the most difficult part, the panelists said, was coming up with basic parameters to base their predictions off of. As Tyson put it, the parameters are like "knobs you turn" in computer simulations of the universe meant to project outcomes based on hypotheses. To pose an example, panelist Rachel Somerville, a senior research scientist at Flatiron Institute’s Center for Computational Astrophysics in New York City, described a study she had worked on that tried to predict what JWST would see.
"We turned all the knobs in our models to match the nearby universe," said Somerville. But something wasn't right. "We disagreed with the observations," she said. After looking over the data, Somerville and her team discovered that their predictions would be more accurate if they took into account the increased density of the early universe, which was smaller than our currently more expanded universe, yet contained the same amount of mass.
Other problems were not so easily resolved. For instance, many observations made by the JWST revealed that the early universe was a surprisingly vibrant place, with galaxies far larger and brighter than scientists predicted.