Latest news with #galaxyformation
CTV News
08-07-2025
- Science
- CTV News
Astronomers discover ‘fossil galaxy' 3 billion light-years away
An international team of researchers, using the Large Binocular Telescope in Arizona, has discovered a faraway galaxy that has remained unchanged for billions of years, like a cosmic fossil. (LBT Observatory via CNN Newsource) A galaxy that has remained unchanged for 7 billion years — a rarity in the universe — has been observed by astronomers, offering a glimpse into cosmic history and adding to an enigmatic collection of objects called relics or 'fossil galaxies.' These space oddities are galaxies that, after an initial phase of intense star formation, escape their expected evolutionary path. While other galaxies expand and merge with one another, the fossil galaxies remain virtually inactive. Like celestial time capsules, they provide a snapshot into the ancient universe and allow astronomers to examine the mechanism of galaxy formation. The newly discovered fossil galaxy — named KiDS J0842+0059 — is about 3 billion light-years from Earth, making it both the most distant and the first of its kind observed outside the local universe, the region of space closest to Earth that is approximately 1 billion light-years in radius. It was found by a team of astronomers led by the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF), using high-resolution imaging from the Large Binocular Telescope in Arizona. 'Relic galaxies, just by chance, did not merge with any other galaxy, remaining more or less intact through time,' said Crescenzo Tortora, a researcher at INAF and first author of a study on the finding published May 31 in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 'These objects are very rare because, as time goes on, the probability to merge with another galaxy naturally increases.' Very compact, very massive Astronomers believe that the most massive galaxies form in two phases, according to study coauthor Chiara Spiniello, a researcher at the University of Oxford in the UK. 'First, there's an early burst of star formation, a very quick and violent activity,' she said. 'We end up having something very compact and small, the progenitor of this relic.' The second phase, she added, is a protracted process during which galaxies that are in close proximity start interacting, merging and eating each other, causing a very dramatic change in their shapes, sizes and star populations. 'We define a relic as an object that missed almost completely this second phase, having formed at least 75% of its mass in the first phase,' Spiniello explained. The telltale feature of fossil galaxies is that they are very old, compact and dense, much more so than our own galaxy. 'They contain (billions) of stars as massive as the sun and they are not forming any new stars — they're doing essentially nothing, and they are the fossil records of the very ancient universe,' she said. 'They formed when the universe was really, really young. And then, for some reasons that we honestly don't understand yet, they did not interact. They didn't merge with other systems. They evolved undisturbed, and they remained as they were.' Fossil galaxies are crucial because they are a direct link to the massive galaxy population that existed billions of years ago, said Michele Cappellari, a professor of astrophysics at the University of Oxford who was not involved with the study. 'As 'living fossils,' they have avoided the chaotic mergers and growth that most other massive galaxies have experienced. Studying them allows us to reconstruct the conditions of the universe in its infancy and understand the initial bursts of star formation,' he said. What caused these galaxies to stop forming stars so abruptly is a major question, he added. 'Evidence from both local and (distant) observations suggests that feedback from supermassive black holes may be responsible,' Cappellari said. 'These black holes can produce powerful winds that expel or heat the gas in a galaxy, preventing further star formation. However, this remains an active area of research.' An uncertain future Scientists initially identified KiDS J0842+0059 in 2018 using the VLT Survey Telescope (VST) at the Paranal Observatory in Chile. That observation revealed that the galaxy was populated by very old stars but only provided an estimate of its mass and size, so a more detailed observation was required to confirm it was a relic. The Large Binocular Telescope used for this confirmation can render very sharp images due to its ability to compensate for atmospheric turbulence, which otherwise can make it difficult for Earth-based telescopes to focus on distant objects. The newly found fossil galaxy joins a group of only a handful of others that have been observed at the same level of detail, the most pristine of which — called NGC 1277 — was confirmed by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2018. NGC 1277 and KiDS J0842+0059 are very similar, but the latter is much farther away from Earth. It fits the definition of fossil galaxy almost perfectly, according to Spiniello. 'This is what we call an extreme relic,' she said, 'because almost all, or 99.5% of its stars were formed incredibly early on in cosmic time, and the galaxy did absolutely nothing thereafter.' The fossil galaxy has stars and planets, just like our own galaxy, but it is much more dense, Spiniello added. 'There will be many more stars in a tiny, tiny volume, so it'll be super crowded,' she said. 'And it will be much harder to find solar systems like ours, with many planets orbiting around it, just because of the chances of getting companion stars interfering nearby.' KiDS J0842+0059 looks to observers like it did 3 billion years ago, because that's how long it takes for the light coming from the galaxy to reach Earth. Spiniello hypothesized that the relic will likely remain as it is forever, but scientists can't be certain since they still don't know what keeps it from interacting with other galaxies. 'There must be something that prevents them from merging, but without knowing what, we cannot really predict what's going to happen in the future,' Spiniello said. 'One in millions' It is very hard to identify fossil galaxies and confirm their nature, partly because they're relatively rare and small compared with regular galaxies such as the Milky Way, according to Sébastien Comerón, an extragalactic astronomer at the Universidad de La Laguna and the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias in Spain. The confirmation of a distant relic galaxy is a credit to the search strategies used to identify these objects and of modern instruments, he said. 'Relic galaxies are mysterious,' added Comerón, who was not involved with the study, in an email. 'The fact that a few galaxies are nowadays untouched relics of the first large galaxies needs an explanation.' Astronomers can't say for certain how rare relics are, but Spiniello estimates there might be 'one in millions' among all the galaxies in the universe. The INSPIRE project — which aims to find and catalogue fossil galaxies and spawned the discovery of KiDS J0842+0059 — has already identified several dozen other candidates that are in the pipeline for further scrutiny, Spiniello said. New instruments could make this search even more effective. Both Spiniello and Tortora are excited about Euclid, a European Space Agency telescope launched in 2023 with the goal of exploring dark matter and dark energy that will also be useful for observing fossil galaxies. 'Euclid will be transformational,' Spiniello said, 'because rather than observing one single object at a time, its wide sky survey configuration will cover a lot more. The idea is to find all the galaxies in a patch of sky, and then isolate all the ones that are ultra compact. And if you do that, then you can actually estimate how rare (fossil galaxies) are.' Confirming relic galaxy KiDS J0842+0059 at such a distance is a remarkable achievement, and the future of this field is very promising, Cappellari said in an email. 'With powerful new telescopes like James Webb and Euclid (which produced its first images just a few months ago), and on the ground with advanced adaptive optics, we can expect to find and study more of these relics at even greater distances.'
CNN
08-07-2025
- Science
- CNN
Astronomers discover ‘fossil galaxy' 3 billion light-years away
A galaxy that has remained unchanged for 7 billion years — a rarity in the universe — has been observed by astronomers, offering a glimpse into cosmic history and adding to an enigmatic collection of objects called relics or 'fossil galaxies.' These space oddities are galaxies that, after an initial phase of intense star formation, escape their expected evolutionary path. While other galaxies expand and merge with one another, the fossil galaxies remain virtually inactive. Like celestial time capsules, they provide a snapshot into the ancient universe and allow astronomers to examine the mechanism of galaxy formation. The newly discovered fossil galaxy — named KiDS J0842+0059 — is about 3 billion light-years from Earth, making it both the most distant and the first of its kind observed outside the local universe, the region of space closest to Earth that is approximately 1 billion light-years in radius. It was found by a team of astronomers led by the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF), using high-resolution imaging from the Large Binocular Telescope in Arizona. 'Relic galaxies, just by chance, did not merge with any other galaxy, remaining more or less intact through time,' said Crescenzo Tortora, a researcher at INAF and first author of a study on the finding published May 31 in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 'These objects are very rare because, as time goes on, the probability to merge with another galaxy naturally increases.' Astronomers believe that the most massive galaxies form in two phases, according to study coauthor Chiara Spiniello, a researcher at the University of Oxford in the UK. 'First, there's an early burst of star formation, a very quick and violent activity,' she said. 'We end up having something very compact and small, the progenitor of this relic.' The second phase, she added, is a protracted process during which galaxies that are in close proximity start interacting, merging and eating each other, causing a very dramatic change in their shapes, sizes and star populations. 'We define a relic as an object that missed almost completely this second phase, having formed at least 75% of its mass in the first phase,' Spiniello explained. The telltale feature of fossil galaxies is that they are very old, compact and dense, much more so than our own galaxy. 'They contain (billions) of stars as massive as the sun and they are not forming any new stars — they're doing essentially nothing, and they are the fossil records of the very ancient universe,' she said. 'They formed when the universe was really, really young. And then, for some reasons that we honestly don't understand yet, they did not interact. They didn't merge with other systems. They evolved undisturbed, and they remained as they were.' Fossil galaxies are crucial because they are a direct link to the massive galaxy population that existed billions of years ago, said Michele Cappellari, a professor of astrophysics at the University of Oxford who was not involved with the study. 'As 'living fossils,' they have avoided the chaotic mergers and growth that most other massive galaxies have experienced. Studying them allows us to reconstruct the conditions of the universe in its infancy and understand the initial bursts of star formation,' he said. What caused these galaxies to stop forming stars so abruptly is a major question, he added. 'Evidence from both local and (distant) observations suggests that feedback from supermassive black holes may be responsible,' Cappellari said. 'These black holes can produce powerful winds that expel or heat the gas in a galaxy, preventing further star formation. However, this remains an active area of research.' Scientists initially identified KiDS J0842+0059 in 2018 using the VLT Survey Telescope (VST) at the Paranal Observatory in Chile. That observation revealed that the galaxy was populated by very old stars but only provided an estimate of its mass and size, so a more detailed observation was required to confirm it was a relic. The Large Binocular Telescope used for this confirmation can render very sharp images due to its ability to compensate for atmospheric turbulence, which otherwise can make it difficult for Earth-based telescopes to focus on distant objects. The newly found fossil galaxy joins a group of only a handful of others that have been observed at the same level of detail, the most pristine of which — called NGC 1277 — was confirmed by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2018. NGC 1277 and KiDS J0842+0059 are very similar, but the latter is much farther away from Earth. It fits the definition of fossil galaxy almost perfectly, according to Spiniello. 'This is what we call an extreme relic,' she said, 'because almost all, or 99.5% of its stars were formed incredibly early on in cosmic time, and the galaxy did absolutely nothing thereafter.' The fossil galaxy has stars and planets, just like our own galaxy, but it is much more dense, Spiniello added. 'There will be many more stars in a tiny, tiny volume, so it'll be super crowded,' she said. 'And it will be much harder to find solar systems like ours, with many planets orbiting around it, just because of the chances of getting companion stars interfering nearby.' KiDS J0842+0059 looks to observers like it did 3 billion years ago, because that's how long it takes for the light coming from the galaxy to reach Earth. Spiniello hypothesized that the relic will likely remain as it is forever, but scientists can't be certain since they still don't know what keeps it from interacting with other galaxies. 'There must be something that prevents them from merging, but without knowing what, we cannot really predict what's going to happen in the future,' Spiniello said. It is very hard to identify fossil galaxies and confirm their nature, partly because they're relatively rare and small compared with regular galaxies such as the Milky Way, according to Sébastien Comerón, an extragalactic astronomer at the Universidad de La Laguna and the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias in Spain. The confirmation of a distant relic galaxy is a credit to the search strategies used to identify these objects and of modern instruments, he said. 'Relic galaxies are mysterious,' added Comerón, who was not involved with the study, in an email. 'The fact that a few galaxies are nowadays untouched relics of the first large galaxies needs an explanation.' Astronomers can't say for certain how rare relics are, but Spiniello estimates there might be 'one in millions' among all the galaxies in the universe. The INSPIRE project — which aims to find and catalogue fossil galaxies and spawned the discovery of KiDS J0842+0059 — has already identified several dozen other candidates that are in the pipeline for further scrutiny, Spiniello said. Discover your world Go beyond the headlines and explore the latest scientific achievements and fascinating discoveries. Sign up for CNN's Wonder Theory science newsletter. New instruments could make this search even more effective. Both Spiniello and Tortora are excited about Euclid, a European Space Agency telescope launched in 2023 with the goal of exploring dark matter and dark energy that will also be useful for observing fossil galaxies. 'Euclid will be transformational,' Spiniello said, 'because rather than observing one single object at a time, its wide sky survey configuration will cover a lot more. The idea is to find all the galaxies in a patch of sky, and then isolate all the ones that are ultra compact. And if you do that, then you can actually estimate how rare (fossil galaxies) are.' Confirming relic galaxy KiDS J0842+0059 at such a distance is a remarkable achievement, and the future of this field is very promising, Cappellari said in an email. 'With powerful new telescopes like James Webb and Euclid (which produced its first images just a few months ago), and on the ground with advanced adaptive optics, we can expect to find and study more of these relics at even greater distances.'
Globe and Mail
20-06-2025
- Science
- Globe and Mail
James Webb Telescope's shocking findings spectacularly validate the revolutionary, ‘ultimate theory' of science
James Webb Telescope is looking at 13.5 billion years old objects from human perspective, but is seeing in real-time from universe's perspective. James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has been repeatedly making global headline news. It has shaken the foundations of cosmology, and entire science. JWST has discovered that MoM z14 galaxy existed when the universe was just 280 million years old (i.e. when the universe was really in infant stage). The measured emission lines from this galaxy indicated overabundance of elements like nitrogen and carbon. This was damn shocking because there is not a single theoretical model that predicts this much nitrogen this early on (which would require the birth and death of several generations of stars). JWST also discovered Zhúlóng, an enormous spiral galaxy (appears as Milky Way galaxy's cosmic twin). Zhúlóng is a mature galaxy and seriously challenges current theories about galaxy formation. JWST has made many other such incredible discoveries. But the core message is: the infant universe appears to be eerily similar to what it is right now after 13.8 billion years since the Big Bang. The reason why the infant universe looks the same as mature (adult) universe might be very simple: James Webb Telescope is looking at 13.5 billion years old objects from human perspective, but is seeing in real-time from universe's perspective, and hence it looking at those distant object as it is right now. It will be shame if the core message from the largest and most powerful space telescope ever (with a price tag of more than 10 billion US dollars) is ignored by the global scientific community. At the heart of Einstein's relativity, there is a contradiction; a paradox. For any observer, light appears to be travelling at the velocity c (= 299,792,458 m/s), and hence would take millions or even billions of years to move from one galaxy to another. But from the photon's perspective, time stops ticking completely. Photon (particle of light) does not experience the passage of time while moving from one galaxy to another. In other words, light can travel instantaneously across farthest distances in the universe. Unfortunately, Einstein did not understand the true physical meaning of relativity, and the world is also unaware what Einstein's mathematics is really telling. A revolutionary theory has emerged which reconciles the two bitterly conflicting pillars of physics, as well as unifies physics with cosmology. It claims to satisfy all three necessary conditions for a scientific revolution, and usher in a complete paradigm shift in science. It claims that the universe is like an expanding (hyper) balloon, which has a 3D hyper-surface. The wall of the balloon universe is made up of invisible scalar fields (somewhat similar to invisible electric and magnetic fields) and particles (which are mere excitations/resonances in those fields, just as the stunningly accurate 'Quantum Field Theory' insists). Since stars and planets and even humans are made up of particles, therefore all forms of matter is eternally trapped within the 3D hypersurface of fields which makes up the wall of the (hyper) balloon. The above-mentioned article claimed about the existence of two different frames of reference/viewpoints (one viewpoint is from any point on the surface, and another viewpoint is from the center of the balloon universe). The universe is perceived differently from each viewpoint, and this also implies the existence of two different concepts of time. Photon's perspective happens to be the center of the universe viewpoint. There are two pillars of modern physics: Einstein's Relativity and Quantum Mechanics. Both are spectacularly successful in their own domains, but are in bitter mutual conflicts. The core conflict is about the nature of time and is known as the 'problem of time'. Quantum mechanics regards the flow of time as universal and absolute, whereas relativity regards the flow of time as malleable and relative. Experiments have supported both concepts. Sagnac effect demonstrates that simultaneity is absolute and support Quantum Mechanics' view of time. Muon decay experiments as well as Hafele-Keating experiment (which involved flying atomic clocks around the world on commercial airplanes) support relativistic view about time. Actually Quantum Mechanics is the center of the universe perspective, while relativity is all about being trapped in the 3D (hyper) surface of the expanding universe, but being free to move along any three mutually perpendicular directions. Physics and cosmology are both in crisis because of (presently accepted) wrong model of the universe. Veritasium science channel hosts a YouTube video (23 million views) titled 'Why No One Has Measured the Speed of Light' which explains why it is fundamentally impossible to measure the one-way speed of light. That video provides a crucial hint of how nature truly works. The presenter gives the accepted value of speed of light (c = 299,792,458 m/s) and then goes on to prove that light may never travel at this speed! While one way speed of light cannot be measured, the two way speed of light can be measured (by placing a mirror at the other end for reflecting light). But now, the problem shifts to synchronization of the two clocks placed at the source and the mirror. The real problem lies NOT with ONE WAY speed. The true problem is whether a distant point is also located in the past or not. The two-way velocity of light has been measured very accurately and found to be 299,792,458 m/s. But, what if, the delay in time (between the shining of torch and detection after reflection in the mirror) is actually contributed by the space distance? Indeed, that is exactly what happens! Please see the provided image. Actually the velocity of light is infinite. It the peculiarity of Minkowski SpaceTime (MST) hyperbolic geometry which throttles the value of the velocity of light (as well as velocity of gravity wave) at the particular value c. Actually, c is the expansion velocity of the universe, and light picks this particular value. It is a peculiarity of MST geometry that it mixes space and time. As any object moves very fast, the spatial distance covered (dr) is large. Therefore, the base of the right angled triangle is large. But as the base increases, the hypotenuse also increases, and hence time dilation (dt) also increases. Therefore, the space (spatial) distance gets measured as time distance. It is for this reason that the farther an object is located the more distant in the past it lies. However, that problem arises for humans (trapped eternally in the surface of the balloon universe), because of the compulsion of placing the origin at the wrong place. But for nature, the origin is at the true center of the universe and hence distances between points located on the surface are ignored. From nature's view, simultaneity is absolute. That is because the time elapsed since the Big Bang is just a function of radius of the universe (distance from true center of the universe to any point on the surface), and is same everywhere. Whether the point is located on the moon or the sun or on the Andromeda galaxy does not matter, because all of them are equidistant from the true center of the universe (where the Big Bang happened). In essence, the James Webb Telescope (JWST) it looking at those distant galaxies as it is right now! Just because those galaxies are extremely red-shifted does not mean that they have to be in the very distant past (from nature's perspective). Light is travelling instantly from those galaxies to JWST. This is not an insane claim. After all, quantum entanglement experiments have demonstrated beyond doubt that particles can communicate instantly over vast distances. Similarly, emission and absorption of photons takes place simultaneously, but appear to have travelled at finite velocity c from human perspective. BUT WHY THE 'ULTIMATE' TAG WITH THIS SCIENCE THEORY? Is it justified? Probably, yes. The list of achievements (explaining power) of this theory is incredibly stunning. It easily (and naturally) explains: 1) Standard Model of Particle physics (which accounts for three forces, and all particles of nature), by explaining the origin of U(1), SU(2) and SU(3) internal symmetries. 2) Principle of Least Action (PLA). All known laws of physics can be derived from PLA. The PLA can be generalized to 'Principle of Maximum Proper time', which reduces to the shockingly simple statement: 'The least distance between two points in four dimensional (hyper) space is a straight line'. Nature's true geometry is therefore Euclidean, and nature has to obey this geometrical (mathematical) law everywhere! 3) Ever increasing entropy (second law of thermodynamics). Many scientists regard this as the most fundamental law, but, in fact, it originates from the stretching of the wall (expansion of 3D space) of the universe. 4) Imaginary time and its relation with temperature. 5) Origin of crucial conservation laws of physics (arises from the simple symmetries of the balloon according to Noether's theorem). 6) True origin of the rest mass energy (which is given by the most famous equation of science E=mc2). It supersedes the two pillars of modern physics. It also unifies physics and cosmology, and can replace the (presently accepted) Standard Model of Cosmology. In addition, this theory may remain reigning for a long time to come. It is immune to new physics. For example: Discovery of Higg's Boson in 2012 has completed the Standard Model of Particle physics. Claims of new physics at extremely small distances (which is taken to be synonymous with extremely high energy) may be erroneous. Since time and space starts exchanging roles at a very small size scale (according to above model), the above logic might also reverse. This is actually hinted by nature: i) Strong nuclear force start becoming weak at smaller distances (the relative coupling strength decreases with increasing energy). ii) Quarks interaction strength also decreases with distance (Asymptotic freedom). This theory is also immune to new physics (new particles etc.) arising due to Dark Matter and Dark Energy. The universe is expanding at a constant rate (zero acceleration) and hence there is no Dark Energy. This theory reinterprets the physical meaning of all metrics (like FLRW metric, Minskowski metric, Schwarzchild metric) and claims that Dark Matter is an illusion arising from improper understanding of General Relativity. This theory clearly states that the universe is a (hyper) balloon in 4D (hyper) space, which is Euclidean rather than Minkowskian. The 4D (hyper) space may be infinite in extent. Emptiness (nothingness of true vacuum) may be infinite in spatial extent. But amount of field and matter (which constitutes the universe) is finite. What about multiverse? This theory does not deny it, but does not require it either. It is silent on that topic. And even if multiverses really existed, there will be absolutely no interaction (of our universe) with those universes. Not even gravity leaks outside the 3+1 dimensions, as confirmed by recent measurements. So as far as humans are concerned, it is a final and ultimate theory. It is THE rock solid foundation on which all future theories in science will be based. It is THE bedrock theory of entire science. [194 National Anthems tunes have been merged into a single tune using World's most intelligent, musical A.I. software 'Emmy', to create this United Nations Anthem (World Anthem). Kindly watch and share: ] Mr. Joseph T. Kurien (a former Cochin University graduate) is an independent researcher and a part-time science writer. He presently works in Manappuram software and consultancy. Media Contact Company Name: Manappuram software and consultancy Contact Person: Joseph T. Kurien Email: Send Email State: Kerala Country: India Website:
Sustainability Times
12-06-2025
- Science
- Sustainability Times
'James Webb Spots Cosmic Shock': This Newly Found Ancient Structure Challenges Everything We Knew About the Early Universe
IN A NUTSHELL 🌌 The James Webb Space Telescope discovered a massive spiral galaxy , named the Great Wheel, formed just two billion years after the Big Bang. , named the Great Wheel, formed just two billion years after the Big Bang. 🔍 This galaxy stretches nearly 320,000 feet across, almost matching the Milky Way 's diameter, though it is less massive. 's diameter, though it is less massive. 📈 The discovery suggests rapid galaxy formation in the early universe, challenging existing astrophysical models. in the early universe, challenging existing astrophysical models. 🚀 The findings underscore the importance of continued investment in space exploration and technology to uncover the universe's secrets. The exploration of the universe has taken a giant leap forward with the revelations from the James Webb Space Telescope. Recently, a significant discovery was made, highlighting the presence of a large spiral galaxy, similar to the Milky Way, formed surprisingly early in the universe's history. This finding has not only intrigued astronomers but also challenged existing theories about galaxy formation. As we delve into these new insights, we realize the profound impact such discoveries have on our understanding of the cosmos and our place within it. The Discovery of the Great Wheel The discovery, described as fortuitous, occurred in November 2022 when Themiya Nanayakkara from Swinburne University of Technology and her team were searching for quasars, which are active galactic nuclei powered by supermassive black holes. In the process, they identified a spiral galaxy, now referred to as the 'Great Wheel,' existing merely two billion years after the Big Bang. This galaxy stretches nearly 320,000 feet across, almost matching the Milky Way's diameter of approximately 328,000 feet. Although it holds significantly less mass than our galaxy, the discovery of such a large spiral structure at this point in cosmic history is remarkable. Nanayakkara emphasizes that the Milky Way had an additional 10 billion years to grow compared to the Great Wheel. This makes it not the oldest known spiral galaxy, but certainly the largest at such an early age. As we perceive it now, this galaxy might have expanded significantly, potentially surpassing the size of the Milky Way due to the passage of 10 to 12 billion years since we last observed it. This discovery has prompted astronomers to reconsider the growth patterns and timelines of galaxies in the early universe. 'They're Coming From Space!': Mysterious Radio Signals Repeating Every 2 Hours Identified in That Distant Star System Implications of Rapid Growth Current understanding of the early universe suggests that the development of such a sizable spiral galaxy is not impossible, yet highly improbable. The authors of the study, published in the journal Nature Astronomy, propose that this galaxy could have formed through the collision and merging of multiple smaller galaxies or by accumulating massive amounts of cold gas. The existence of such a structure has significant implications for our understanding of the evolution of early disk galaxies. Geraint Lewis from the University of Sydney notes that these galaxies must have developed remarkably rapidly. Observing more of these structures early in the cosmos's history could necessitate adjustments to our current models. The recent identification of the smallest galaxy ever observed further underscores the dynamic and often unpredictable nature of galaxy formation. Such findings push the boundaries of our knowledge and encourage continual refinement of our understanding of the universe's early years. 'Earth Is Not Unique Anymore': Harvard Scientists Reveal Countless Earth-Like Planets Lurking in Distant Galaxies Reevaluating Cosmic Models The finding of the Great Wheel and other similar structures compels astronomers to reevaluate existing cosmic models. Traditionally, galaxies were thought to form and grow slowly over billions of years. However, the presence of a massive spiral galaxy so early in the universe's timeline suggests that galaxy formation can occur much more rapidly under certain conditions. This revelation prompts questions about what other factors might contribute to such rapid growth. Are there environmental or cosmic conditions that accelerate galaxy development? Understanding these variables could offer new insights into the forces that shaped the universe as we know it today. As astronomers continue their observations, the data collected by the James Webb Space Telescope will be pivotal in refining our models and potentially overturning established theories. 'Doomsday Coming Sooner Than You Think': This Groundbreaking Study Reveals the Imminent Threat Facing Humanity and Why We Need to Act Now The Future of Astronomical Exploration The implications of these discoveries extend beyond academic curiosity. They underscore the importance of continued investment in space exploration and technology. As the James Webb Space Telescope continues to unveil the universe's secrets, it opens new avenues for research and discovery. The data gathered not only enriches our understanding of the cosmos but also poses new questions about our universe's past, present, and future. How many other galaxies like the Great Wheel exist, waiting to be discovered? What other secrets does the universe hold that could redefine our understanding of reality? These questions drive the scientific community to push the boundaries of exploration, ensuring that humanity continues to reach for the stars. The universe remains a vast and largely uncharted expanse, filled with mysteries waiting to be uncovered. With each new discovery, we gain a better understanding of our place in the cosmos. As we continue to explore, what other unexpected revelations might we encounter that challenge our current perceptions and ignite our curiosity about the universe? Our author used artificial intelligence to enhance this article. Did you like it? 4.6/5 (25)
Forbes
29-05-2025
- General
- Forbes
Astronomers Need Better Models To Explain Webb's Puzzling Observations
Thousands of galaxies flood this near-infrared image of galaxy cluster SMACS 0723. In one fell swoop, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has largely revolutionized much of what astronomers know about the formation and assembly of the earliest galaxies in the cosmos. Webb has not only pushed back the tape of galaxy formation, but even mainstream observational astronomers now realize that their models need updating to explain what Webb has been seeing only 300 million years after the big bang. To answer the question of how mass assembles in the early Universe and how galaxies are forming their stars, it's clear that the models we've developed for the nearby Universe need to be updated for the distant universe, Alex Cameron, a postdoctoral researcher in astrophysics at the University of Oxford, tells me in his office. The physics of how stars form, how they evolve, is very complex, and there are big uncertainties in our models, says Cameron. So, before we start questioning the age of the universe and how old these galaxies must be, we need to do a lot of work to better calibrate our understanding of the stars themselves, says Cameron. The success we have had in shattering records for the most distant galaxies implies that galaxy formation got underway very early in the history of the universe, Andy Bunker, professor of Astrophysics at the University of Oxford, told me via email. The fact that we see the fingerprints of heavy elements such as carbon and oxygen in the most distant galaxies implies that previous generations of stars have already formed, and that 'first light' in the universe happened even earlier, he says. Bright galaxies appear to be ubiquitous in the early cosmos. Everywhere we look, we're finding a lot of bright galaxies, says Cameron. The challenge is to disentangle whether these galaxies are bright because they've got a lot of stars in them or whether they're bright, because the stars that have formed are brighter than typical present-day stars, he says. The signatures that we're getting from these observations tell us that there's a lot that we don't understand about the properties of these very early stars, says Cameron. In less than three years, Webb's sensitivity to galaxy formation is arguably more than in the past twenty years with Hubble and large ground-based telescopes, Richard Ellis, professor of astrophysics at University College London, tells me via email. Webb has revealed that some galaxies at the earliest epochs are very bright in the ultraviolet, which is telling us something about how stars form vigorously in these early galaxies, says Bunker. What's most puzzling about these early galaxies? The standard picture posits that galaxies assemble their stars gradually over time via infalling gas and mergers, says Ellis. Yet, the earliest galaxies are often more luminous than ones seen later, he says. The relative abundances of some chemical elements at these high redshifts are also unusual with astronomers particularly puzzled by why galaxies at such early times are so rich in the element of nitrogen. But are we in sight of the cosmological holy grail? I think we are observing these systems at a special time, perhaps close to the moment of their birth, says Ellis. They could be unusually luminous because they may be bursting into life a few tens of millions of years after formation; in this case they would not be able to sustain this luminosity for very long, he says. Yet they may also simply have more massive stars than those seen in galaxies at later times. Either way, it's pointing to the fact we may be getting close to a 'holy grail' when galaxies first emerged from darkness, says Ellis. It may not be possible to find a 'chemically pristine' galaxy first emerging from darkness, says Ellis. That's because the five-to-ten-million-year window in time when this gas had such a primordial composition was so short. But when the gas is first heated by young stars it will induce an absorption signal in the cold gas seen against the glow of the big bang, says Ellis. The Square Kilometer Array (a massive international radio telescope project) nearing completion in Western Australia has the potential to see this clinching signal in concert with further progress with Webb, he says.
