Research that's Changing the World
Using the James Webb Space Telescope, Steven Finkelstein and his team have shed new light on how quickly massive black holes and galaxies form, captivating the world with the beauty and power of science and opening a new window on the origins of our Universe. In 2023, Finkelstein’s research confirmed that Maisie’s Galaxy – one of the first distant galaxies identified by JWST and found by his team – is among the earliest ever detected.
What Starts Here
Finkelstein, the Isabel McCutcheon Harte Centennial Chair in Astronomy, joined UT Austin in 2011 to establish a research group dedicated to understanding when and how galaxies first formed. Today, he’s one of the leading astronomers worldwide, and his groundbreaking discoveries are regularly featured in leading astronomy journals and mainstream media. He is currently leading the Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science Survey (CEERS), a large international collaboration of 100+ astronomers.
Beyond the Forty Acres
Mark Dickinson, National Science Foundation, NOIRLab: "In just the first two years of JWST science operations, the results from the projects that Steve and his team are conducting are having a huge and immediate impact on our knowledge of the very early Universe."
