Assistant Professor Dr. Lamiya Ashraf Mowla from Wellesley College, USA presented groundbreaking research at Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB) during the 2nd Colloquium organized by the Center for Astronomy, Space Science, and Astrophysics (CASSA) on December 19, 2024. The research published in Nature magazine revealed the discovery of a 13.2-billion-year-old galaxy through images and spectra captured by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). This marks a significant milestone for IUB as it is the first scientific paper authored by a CASSA-affiliated member, bringing added recognition to the institution.
Dr. Mowla discussed the Cosmic Calendar – explaining how studying galaxies through light offers a glimpse into the past and the importance of high-resolution telescopes like JWST in observing distant galaxies to uncover their formation processes. She also revisited her 2022 discovery of the Galaxy “Sparkler,” 9 billion light-years away which revealed “sparkles” nearby, some forming just 700 million years after the Big Bang.
Dr. Mowla also discussed the “Firefly Sparkle,” discovered as part of the Canadian NIRISS Unbiased Cluster Survey (CANUCS), found at just 600 million years post-Big Bang. Through Webb’s advanced instruments, she analyzed the galaxies’ spectra, identifying chemical elements and calculating redshift values, indicating their distances. The team’s analysis of the Initial Mass Function (IMF) also offered new perspectives, suggesting steeper slopes than established models.