Webb Discovers Three Massive Galaxies in the Early Universe
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has made a surprising discovery, finding three galaxies that are 12.8 billion years old. What’s so amazing? Experts say they shouldn’t exist under current models, challenging our understanding of how galaxies form in the universe.
An international team of scientists led by astronomers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) used data collected by Webb on galaxies at redshifts from z=5 to z=9. For these values, the age of the Universe was 1–1.5 billion years. Due to the accelerated expansion of stars and galaxies in the Universe, the wavelength of photons becomes longer and moves into an increasingly red region, which can be determined by spectral measurements. Webb specializes in just this. Thus, it allows us to determine the distances to objects and their mass with acceptable accuracy.
“Our data changes our understanding of how galaxies formed in the early Universe,” said lead author of the breakthrough study, Dr Mengyuan Xiao of the University of Geneva.
