The James Webb is breaking science... according to science

The tools astronomers typically use to decode images of outer space may not be good enough to keep up with NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, per a new peer-reviewed study published in Nature Astronomy.

🪐 A deeper dive… Current mathematical models used to calculate the properties of faraway planets must be re-tuned to match readings from the JWST, which are far more accurate than previous data from the Hubble Space Telescope, the researchers from Harvard and MIT said.

Translation: If the models are left untouched, astronomers could end up severely misinformed about the atmospheres of planets throughout our galaxy – and whether they have the potential to support life. (To the aliens reading this, it’s okay to breathe a sigh of relief. But we’ll find you soon. Hopefully.🙏🤞)

• “There is a scientifically significant difference between a compound like water being present at 5 percent versus 25 percent, which current models cannot differentiate,” said study co-leader Julien de Wit.

📸 The big picture (heh): The JWST has been upending scientific norms left and right since its very first images were released in July. In them, astronomers immediately started finding numerous galaxies that were older, larger, and brighter than previously thought possible – and we’re still trying to figure out why.