The universe formed a rich landscape faster and earlier than we imagined. According to the latest infrared images sent back by the Webb Space Telescope, to astronomers’ surprise, only 350-450 million years after the Big Bang, 2 extremely ancient galaxies were discovered.
According to the survey data that appeared in the infrared observation band of the Webb Telescope (JWST), the researchers analyzed the GLASS-JWST image in just 4 days and discovered 2 unusually bright galaxies, one of which is the most distant galaxy known so far. Named GLASS-z12, it appeared only 350 million years after the Big Bang, breaking the previous record holder, the GN-z11 galaxy (which existed 400 million years after the Big Bang).
What is even more shocking is that these galaxies are calm and orderly, unlike our understanding of the crowded and chaotic galaxies in the early universe; in other words, the stars in the galaxies may have started to come together only 100 million years after the Big Bang, astronomy Scientists did not expect the cosmic dark age to end so early.
These two galaxies are quite bright in the eyes of the telescope. One possibility is that the galaxies are very large and contain a large number of low-mass stars; the other possibility is that the overall mass of the galaxies is relatively small, but composed of a small number of unusually bright stars.
Of course, the researchers showed that there are other reasons why these galaxies do not exist in visible light images but appear in infrared images, such as visible light being blocked by a large amount of dust, and more spectral data from the Webb Space Telescope will be needed for more evidence in the future. Make sure these galaxies are really old.
(First image source: NASA)
