Astronomers have made a groundbreaking discovery that challenges our understanding of how quickly stars and galaxies formed in the early universe. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has detected oxygen in an ancient galaxy, JADES-GS-z14-0, which existed just 300 million years after the Big Bang.
The detection was unexpected, as scientists previously thought that heavy elements like oxygen would not be present in such a young galaxy. However, the findings suggest that stars in the early universe were born and died at an accelerated rate, seeding their surroundings with heavy elements much faster than expected.
This discovery raises questions about how galaxies formed so quickly, with researchers speculating that it could be due to the early appearance of gigantic black holes, feedback from other star deaths, or dark energy. The discovery has significant implications for our understanding of the universe’s evolution and the formation of galaxies.
Lead researcher Sander Schouws said, “The results show the galaxy has formed very rapidly and is also maturing rapidly, adding to a growing body of evidence that the formation of galaxies happens much faster than was expected.”
Source: https://www.livescience.com/space/cosmology/i-was-astonished-ancient-galaxy-discovered-by-james-webb-telescope-contains-the-oldest-oxygen-scientists-have-ever-seen