RIT researchers join global effort to uncover cosmic mysteries with major involvement in JWST Cycle 4

Rochester, New York – As the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) embarks on its highly anticipated fourth observation cycle this July, researchers from Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) are once again stepping into the spotlight of cosmic discovery. Building on their deep experience and scientific curiosity, a number of RIT scientists and scholars will be contributing to a record-setting slate of projects aimed at shedding new light on the early universe, black holes, and the structures of distant galaxies.

This time around, RIT researchers are co-investigators on nine separate proposals that have been accepted for Cycle 4—one of the most competitive cycles to date. Out of more than 2,300 proposals submitted from around the globe, just 274 were approved, with RIT researchers playing a critical role in several of the most high-profile ones, including the largest proposal of them all.

At the center of much of this work is Dr. Jeyhan Kartaltepe, director of RIT’s Laboratory for Multiwavelength Astrophysics. A well-respected figure in the field of galaxy formation and evolution, Kartaltepe will contribute to eight different programs in this cycle, all exploring various aspects of the early universe.

“I think the biggest thing to look forward to is a lot of spectroscopy,” said Kartaltepe. “We’ll be getting spectra of high redshift galaxies that we first identified in COSMOS-Web, so it will be exciting to spectroscopically confirm some of them. Another program will focus on ‘little red dots,’ or the high redshift AGN candidates that we’re still trying to understand.”

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JWST’s fourth cycle is historic in scale. With more than 8,500 hours of telescope time allocated, it marks the most extensive general observer program so far. Scientists across the globe will be peering further and deeper into the cosmos, and the RIT team is contributing to some of the most ambitious proposals among them.

One of those is the VENUS project—short for Vast Exploration for Nascent, Unexplored Sources—which was the largest accepted Cycle 4 proposal. Using the phenomenon of gravitational lensing, this program aims to detect faint but ancient galaxies and black holes whose light has been magnified by massive intervening objects. Kartaltepe and her former postdoctoral researcher, Rebecca Larson, now at the Space Telescope Science Institute, are both involved.

Another effort, simply titled Brightest & Farthest, will work to confirm 30 of the most luminous high-redshift galaxies known—objects existing when the universe was just a few hundred million years old. These findings could reshape our understanding of how galaxies formed and evolved in the early cosmos. Both Kartaltepe and Postdoctoral Research Associate Santosh Harish are playing leading roles in that study.

Adding to this rich tapestry of cosmic research, RIT researchers will also participate in the SPAM project, which will enhance the CEERS legacy dataset by adding 10 new filters. This will significantly improve the study of star formation by providing more detailed photometric data.

Active galactic nuclei (AGN)—the energetic centers of galaxies powered by supermassive black holes—are a central theme in multiple projects involving RIT’s team. One program focuses on the first known wandering AGN candidate found in a dense clump of matter, which could help unravel how black holes travel and merge during galactic collisions. Kartaltepe and Harish are leading this pursuit of some of the universe’s most elusive objects.

Another intriguing project aims to explore the so-called “little red dots,” a mysterious population of red, dusty AGNs found in early JWST data. These objects might hold clues about the earliest phases of black hole and galaxy co-evolution. Harish is joined by Postdoctoral Research Associate Lilan Yang on this investigation, highlighting the collaborative strength of RIT’s young scientists.

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At “cosmic noon,” the period around 10 billion years ago when the universe experienced peak star formation, galaxies underwent rapid transformation. Several JWST Cycle 4 programs involving RIT scientists will probe this era, including MEGA Spectra, which aims to perform a complete census of the interstellar medium, star formation, and black hole activity within a specific region of the sky.

Another effort, A New Window on Galaxy Structure, will study the dustiest galaxies of that time, providing a fresh look at how dust and stars arranged themselves and interacted during this crucial epoch. Kartaltepe’s involvement across these projects underscores her pivotal role in interpreting the data pouring in from JWST.

Meanwhile, A Census of Galaxy Kinematics and Outflows to z~7 will aim to map the motion of early galaxies and their outflowing gas. Understanding these mechanics could reveal how galaxies shaped their environments and how their chemical composition evolved.

For Dr. Don Figer, director of RIT’s Center for Detectors, Cycle 4 represents a full-circle moment in a decades-long astronomical journey. Figer co-discovered the Arches cluster—one of the most massive young clusters in our galaxy—during his Ph.D. work in the early 1990s. Now, with JWST’s advanced infrared sensitivity, he and RIT Ph.D. student Edwin Alexani will take the most detailed look yet at the cluster’s composition and structure.

“We have a chance to observe fainter stars, and now we have an opportunity to go back and get better mass estimates,” said Figer.

This investigation will help establish the Arches cluster as a key benchmark for understanding young, metal-rich clusters across the universe. What makes it so valuable is its location within our own galaxy. While similar clusters exist in distant galaxies, they’re simply too far away for astronomers to resolve individual stars. The Arches cluster, in contrast, is close enough for that level of detail.

“We see starburst galaxies all around us where we know there’s a lot of new stars being formed, but they are far away so we can’t observe individual stars,” said Alexani. “The fact that our cluster is very metal rich, very young, and in our own galaxy will provide us with a lot of spectroscopic data and we will be able to see individual stars and study them.”

Figer’s connection to JWST stretches back to its development. As a detector scientist, he helped lead the team that tested and validated detector technologies used in both the telescope’s imager and spectrograph—work that earned a NASA Space Act Award.

The inclusion of so many RIT researchers in JWST Cycle 4 is not only a testament to their scientific expertise but also to their collaborative spirit. Kartaltepe, Figer, and their colleagues are pushing the boundaries of what we know about the cosmos—from the birth of galaxies to the motion of distant stars and the behavior of black holes.

Even former RIT researchers like Rebecca Larson remain closely connected to the work, continuing their contributions from institutions like the Space Telescope Science Institute.

As Cycle 4 begins, RIT’s researchers will be immersed in parsing gigabytes of new data, analyzing spectral lines, identifying unseen galactic structures, and chasing cosmic riddles that have puzzled scientists for generations. With JWST continuing to deliver the most detailed images and measurements ever obtained, the stage is set for another round of discoveries that could transform our understanding of the universe.

And for the RIT community, the message is clear: the stars are just the beginning.