Astronomers have discovered the most distant and earliest spiral galaxy ever seen, using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The galaxy, named Zhúlóng, resembles the Milky Way in shape, size, and stellar mass. It existed 1 billion years after the Big Bang, challenging our theories of galactic evolution.
Zhúlóng’s disk spans around 60,000 light-years and has a mass of 100 billion times that of the sun. The galaxy’s structure is similar to the Milky Way’s, with well-ordered features such as spiral arms and a central bulge of densely packed stars.
The discovery was made using the JWST’s ANORAMIC survey, which collects high-quality images of one object while also collecting data from other targets. This allows the telescope to map large areas of the sky, essential for discovering massive galaxies.
Scientists believe that Zhúlóng could reveal the formation history of this well-ordered galaxy, shedding light on how a “grand design” spiral galaxy came to exist in the early universe. The discovery highlights the potential of the JWST and other telescopes like ALMA for uncovering rare, distant objects that test galaxy formation models.
The team’s research was published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.
Source: https://www.space.com/the-universe/james-webb-space-telescope-discovers-most-distant-and-earliest-milky-way-twin-ever-seen-meet-dragon-galaxy-zhulong-image