The James Webb Space Telescope, a joint effort by NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, and Brant Robertson et al, has set a new record by detecting the most distant known galaxy in the universe. Named JADES-GS-z14-0, this galaxy was observed a mere 290 million years after the Big Bang, when the cosmos was only 2% of its current age.
What makes this discovery even more remarkable is the size and brightness of JADES-GS-z14-0. The galaxy measures more than 1,600 light years across, indicating that the light is being produced by young stars rather than a supermassive black hole. This raises the question of how nature could create such a bright, massive, and large galaxy in less than 300 million years.
The $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope, launched in 2021, was specifically designed to see farther across the cosmos and further back in time than any previous astronomical tool. One of its key objectives was to find the very first stars to ignite in the nascent Universe, and JADES-GS-z14-0 provides valuable insights into the early stages of galaxy formation.
The presence of oxygen in the galaxy suggests that multiple generations of very massive stars had already lived their lives before it was observed. This discovery, along with its implications, is detailed in scholarly papers published on the arXiv preprint service.
Overall, the detection of JADES-GS-z14-0 showcases the incredible capabilities of the James Webb Space Telescope and opens up new possibilities for exploring the early universe.
