NASA scientists use the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to explore cosmic auroras. In other words, the first million years during which the first galaxies formed.
According to the NASAThe galaxies in question provide a range of information that is very relevant to understanding the origin of everything. In this way, we can understand how gases, stars and black holes worked before.
The galaxy appeared 290 million years after the Big Bang
Apparently, the work seems to be paying off. This is because scientists were able to analyze the most distant galaxy studied in memory.
It is assumed that this appeared about 290 million years after the Big Bang. As specialized NASA sources say, the research made it possible to find several galaxies from the first 650 million years.
However, the highlight of this discovery is the recent discovery made in January 2024. Researchers claim to have discovered a galaxy called JADES-GS-z14-0, and analyzed it for about ten hours.
After this period, it was possible to understand that “the galaxy was actually at a redshift of 14.32, breaking the previous record for the most distant galaxy” which had a redshift of 13.2.
The terminology is quite technical, but the conclusion is simple: it was the most distant galaxy ever observed. However, the focus is not only on that, but also on the information obtained.
Scientists concluded that the mass of the galaxy is much greater than the mass of the Sun
As NASA reported, this observation by the team allowed us to understand that the galaxy must be quite luminous. Data indicate that its diameter is more than 1,600 light-years.
Trying to explain the practical meaning of this, scientists say this “proves that the light we see comes mainly from young stars and not from emissions close to a growing supermassive black hole.” This amount of starlight indicates that the galaxy's mass is hundreds of millions of times greater than the mass of the Sun” (via NASA).
However, this discovery raises another big question among the scientific community: How could such a bright galaxy be created in less than 300 million years? It's a question that still needs to be answered.
Moreover, NASA scientists noticed that the discovered galaxy is not as blue as expected. On the contrary, it is redder than expected, which may be a sign of dust.
For all this and much more, experts believe JADES-GS-z14-0 could grow over cosmic time. They also consider it likely that the distance record will be broken within the next decade.
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