NASA’s new telescope will peer back into the Dark Ages of the universe

+ What is the Synod of Bishops? US Edition - Today's top story: The most powerful space telescope ever built will look back in time to the Dark Ages of the universe [View in browser]( US Edition | 13 October 2021 [The Conversation]( First, there was the Big Bang. The universe was mind-bogglingly hot and dense and small. As the universe expanded, it cooled and everything went black. There were no stars or galaxies to produce light that would break up the immense darkness of what astronomers call the Dark Ages of the universe. But things did not stay dark forever. Some few hundred million years later, matter began to clump together and the first stars and galaxies began to form. What happened in between the Big Bang and the birth of the first stars? This is a question astronomers have wondered for decades. The James Webb Space Telescope was designed to look back in time to the first faint light that ever existed and will help astronomers understand this early era of the universe. Christopher Impey, an astronomer at the University of Arizona, explains [what the James Webb Space Telescope is looking for]( and what it might help reveal about the biggest mysteries of the universe. Also today: - [What we know about vaccines, pregnancy and babies]( - [How marijuana use affects academic performance]( - [Is a $16 food truck taco a sign of coming gentrification?]( Daniel Merino Assistant Science Editor & Co-Host of The Conversation Weekly Podcast Hubble took pictures of the oldest galaxies it could – seen here – but the James Webb Space Telescope can go back much farther in time. NASA [The most powerful space telescope ever built will look back in time to the Dark Ages of the universe]( Chris Impey, University of Arizona The James Webb Space Telescope is set to launch into orbit in December 2021. Its mission is to search for the first light to ever shine in the universe. 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