NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has provided unprecedented insights into the early universe, revealing a galaxy that defies understanding. The telescope detected bright hydrogen emission from an ancient galaxy, JADES-GS-z13-1, which existed just 330 million years after the Big Bang. This finding challenges current theories of galaxy formation and reionization, the process by which neutral hydrogen fog was lifted.
The galaxy’s redshift estimate was confirmed to be 13.0, placing it in an unexpectedly early time period in the universe’s history. The team discovered a strong signal of Lyman-alpha emission, a wavelength of light that can only be seen once the surrounding fog has fully lifted. This result is surprising, as previous theories suggested that galaxies like JADES-GS-z13-1 would not have been visible until much later.
The source of this radiation remains unknown, but researchers speculate it could be from the first generation of stars to form in the universe or a powerful active galactic nucleus driven by one of the first supermassive black holes. This discovery has significant implications for our understanding of cosmic reionization and the evolution of galaxies.
The James Webb Space Telescope is an international program led by NASA, with partners ESA and CSA. The telescope is solving mysteries in our solar system, exploring distant worlds around other stars, and probing the origins of our universe.
Source: https://science.nasa.gov/missions/webb/nasas-webb-sees-galaxy-mysteriously-clearing-fog-of-early-universe