Astronomy:UNCOVER
UNCOVER, or Ultradeep NIRSpec and NIRCam ObserVations before the Epoch of Reionization, was a general observer survey program on the James Webb Space Telescope that imaged the Abell 2744 cluster between November 2022 and July 2024.[1] The large treasury program aimed to make use of Abell 2744's gravitational lensing to observe the earliest galaxies formed at the beginning of the epoch of reionization.[2][3] Imaging from the program was used to discover several extremely distant objects, such as UNCOVER-z13 and UNCOVER-z12.
Program
UNCOVER was awarded over 100 hours of combined observation time in Cycle 1 of the JWST general observer program, which awarded a total of about 6000 hours to 266 programs.[4] The program began with initial observations in November 2022, with follow-up observations in July/August 2023 and July 2024 on objects of interest.[1]
Notable Discoveries
- QSO1, a black hole at an approximate redshift of z=7.6, possibly exceeding QSO J0313−1806, the most distant black hole known at the time, before the discovery of UHZ1 in November 2023 at z=10.1. Notable as being surrounded by a very small galaxy, challenging theories of early galaxy and black hole formation.[5][6][7]
- UNCOVER-z13 and UNCOVER-z12, high-redshift Lyman-break galaxies, among the most distant known astronomical objects.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "UNCOVER: Ultra-deep NIRCam and NIRSpec Observations Before the Epoch of Reionization". https://www.stsci.edu/jwst/science-execution/program-information?id=2561.
- ↑ Bezanson, Rachel; Labbe, Ivo; Whitaker, Katherine E.; Leja, Joel; Price, Sedona H.; Franx, Marijn; Brammer, Gabe; Marchesini, Danilo et al. (2022). "The JWST UNCOVER Treasury survey: Ultradeep NIRSpec and NIRCam ObserVations before the Epoch of Reionization". The Astrophysical Journal 974 (1): 92. doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ad66cf. Bibcode: 2024ApJ...974...92B.
- ↑ "UNCOVER: Ultra-deep NIRCam and NIRSpec Observations Before the Epoch of Reionization". https://www.stsci.edu/jwst/phase2-public/2561.pdf.
- ↑ "General Observer Programs in Cycle 1". https://www.stsci.edu/jwst/science-execution/approved-programs/general-observers/cycle-1-go.
- ↑ Jefferson, Brandie (March 1, 2024). "Rachel Bezanson was on a team of astronomers that detected a black hole in the early universe". https://www.pittwire.pitt.edu/pittwire/accolades-honors/nature-early-universe-black-hole.
- ↑ Devlin, Hannah (2 September 2025). "'A paradigm change': black hole spotted that may have been created moments after big bang" (in en). https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/sep/02/primordial-black-hole-big-bang-james-webb-space-telescope.
- ↑ Juodžbalis, Ignas; Marconcini, Cosimo; D'Eugenio, Francesco; Maiolino, Roberto; Marconi, Alessandro; Übler, Hannah; Scholtz, Jan; Ji, Xihan; Arribas, Santiago; Bennett, Jake S.; Bromm, Volker; Bunker, Andrew J.; Carniani, Stefano; Charlot, Stéphane; Cresci, Giovanni; Dayal, Pratika; Egami, Eiichi; Fabian, Andrew; Inayoshi, Kohei; Isobe, Yuki; Ivey, Lucy; Jones, Gareth C.; Koudmani, Sophie; Laporte, Nicolas; Liu, Boyuan; Lyu, Jianwei; Mazzolari, Giovanni; Monty, Stephanie; Parlanti, Eleonora; Pérez-González, Pablo G.; Perna, Michele; Robertson, Brant; Schneider, Raffaella; Sijacki, Debora; Tacchella, Sandro; Trinca, Alessandro; Valiante, Rosa; Volonteri, Marta; Witstok, Joris; Zhang, Saiyang (September 1, 2025). "A direct black hole mass measurement in a Little Red Dot at the Epoch of Reionization". arXiv:2508.21748 [astro-ph.GA].
External links
 |  |
