Six giant galaxies discovered by James Webb telescope can change our understanding of cosmos

February 23, 2023  12:21

Astrophysicists, using the James Webb Space Telescope, have discovered 6 incredible giant galaxies with masses greater than previously imagined. If their authenticity is finally confirmed, it can significantly change human understanding of the cosmos, Newatlas.co reported.

Each of the galaxies could have appeared about 500-800 million years after the Big Bang, that is, more than 13 billion years ago. They are simply huge: some of them contain almost as many stars as the modern Milky Way galaxy. According to scientists, such galaxies simply shouldn't have formed.

The galaxies discovered so far by James Webb (for example, those that formed 350 million years after the Big Bang) were small. Researchers need more data to confirm that these galaxies really are that big and old. Preliminary observations suggest that humanity may have to rewrite the astronomy textbooks.

There is another point of view regarding newly discovered galaxies. According to scientists, they may be faint quasars (extremely bright active galactic nuclei).

six new galaxies.JPG (140 KB)

Scientists say that the Milky Way forms about 1-2 new stars a year. And if the age and size of the detected galaxies are estimated correctly, some of them must have created hundreds of new stars every year during the history of the cosmos. Calculations show that there simply could not be enough material (the material from which stars, planets, are formed) to form so many stars so quickly.

“Even if one of these galaxies is real, it would end the understanding of cosmology,” said researcher Erica Nelson.

Lead author Ivo Labbe said one alternative is that some of the newly discovered objects belong to a new class of emerging supermassive black holes that humanity has not encountered before.

The study is published in the journal Nature.


 
 
 
 
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