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In my talk, I will summarise the capabilities of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and some interesting observations, ranging from objects in the Solar system to exoplanet atmospheres to distant galaxies. I will then describe the observations of galaxies at very high redshifts, which correspond to the first few hundred million years after the Big Bang. Some of these galaxies are large and massive and contain evolved stellar populations. In the standard ΛCDM models of galaxy formation and evolution, galaxies should not have had enough time, within the first few hundred million years, to develop to the stages observed by the JWST. The observations, therefore, pose challenges to our current understanding of cosmology, which remain to be resolved.
Professor Kembhavi is a Professor Emeritus at IUCAA and served as its Director until August 2015. Notably, he held the position of Vice President for the International Astronomical Union and served as the former President of the Astronomical Society of India. He chaired the IIA governing council. His involvement extends to being a member of the Space Commission and the ISRO's Apex Science Board. He is a Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences, India. His contributions to astronomy include his work with the TMT and the LIGO USA Oversight Committee. After earning his Ph.D. from TIFR under Professor Jayant Narlikar, he pursued a postdoctoral fellowship at the Institute of Astronomy in Cambridge. Specializing in galaxies, quasars, and high-energy astrophysics, Kembhavi is leading a Big Data project through NKN focusing on leveraging deep learning for astronomy and biology. He chaired the International Virtual Observatory Alliance and directed the Scientific Council at the Astronomical Data Centre in Strasbourg. His Marathi publication on gravitational waves was awarded the Mahatma Jyotirao Phule award in 2018.