First Light: the dawn of stars and galaxies

29th Hintze Lecture
First Light: the dawn of stars and galaxies
Professor James Dunlop (School of Physics & Astronomy, University of Edinburgh)

Due to the finite speed of light, astronomers have the unique privilege of being able to look back in time, now reaching back almost to the beginning of our Universe. Within this exploration of cosmic history, a key and long standing goal of astrophysics and cosmology is to discover and study the first objects that formed out of the previously smooth debris from the Big Bang. Crucially, this quest includes the search for the first stars and galaxies which lit up the Universe and created the elements required for life.

I will set the scene for this quest and review recent progress at the research frontier, culminating in a presentation and discussion of the latest results from the first two years of observing with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Until now the observational search for so called ‘cosmic dawn’ was limited by the available technology. Now, given the remarkable performance of JWST, this appears to no longer be the case - we may finally be on the verge of discovering `First Light’.