In light of everyone losing their minds over the great high resolution JWST images, what’s the functional application of this new information? Considering that we are so far away from even the closest star that interstellar travel is extremely unlikely, how does this new information help us?

Question

Let me state for the record that **I am not trolling**, and I am blown away by the imagery as much as the next person.
But what can we do with this new information? Where does it take us? How does it help us?

What’s next?

In: 262

Answer 1

The short answer to “how do we benefit” is “Math”

This new resolution and capabilities allows for more precise measurements of stellar phenomena and their effects on surrounding celestial bodies.

Plain to the untrained eye will be lensing, where we see galaxies stretched out because their light has been bent around a powerful source of gravity like a galaxy. Hard to see in old images, it is very clear now what is lensed and what is negligibly so without any instruments or measurements, just the naked eye

With the new data, lots of math can be done to determine all kinds of things. It will further our understanding of gravity, dark matter, and the formation of galaxies and ultimately the formation of the entire universe.

Very cool stuff.