NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, along with a team of researchers from the University of Texas at Austin has discovered something in the past, back when the universe was still young. In this sighting, the researchers saw that there were galaxies that were similar or lookalikes of the Milky Way, best known for harboring the Solar System.
The study discovered this by looking at the universe's past, and researchers were able to spot this lookalike from 11 billion light years away from the planet.
NASA James Webb Discovered Milky Way Lookalike
(Photo : NASA/CEERS/University of Texas at Austin)
This image shows the similar images of two barred galaxies that resemble the Milky Way, from billions of years ago in the past.
According to the recent press statement from UT at Austin, the latest images from James Webb revealed that there are similar-looking galaxies present in space that resembles the Milky Way. This claim was evidenced by the galaxies exhibiting stellar bars, which are a collection of elongated stars that stretch out to their outer disks.
It is important to note that this is a study in the past, back when the universe was still young and was forming what is known now.
The researchers noted that there was one unclear sighting of barred galaxies from the Hubble, known as the EGS-23205. However, with Webb's recent images, it was able to find the galaxy EGS-24268 with the same properties.
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Another Milky Way in the Young Universe?
According to CNET, the University of Texas claims that this discovery is now pushing for new studies behind it, to refine the theories of galaxy evolution.
The team noted that these galaxies existed 11 billion years ago, one where the universe is only 25 percent of its present age.
The researcher's paper was recently accepted to The Astrophysical Journal Letters' publication.
The Milky Way Galaxy
Space researchers are studying everything that is around the planet, and it includes the Milky Way galaxy with outstanding discoveries accounted for in the past. One of the recent findings is the oldest dead star that still existent in the Earth's space neighborhood is the "red" star WDJ2147-4035, which is about 10.7 billion years old.
Researchers were also able to unveil a new galaxy cluster within the Milky Way, dubbed the VVVGCl-B J181435-381432. This cluster was hiding behind the infamous 'Zone of Avoidance,' which is a thick bulge that is something that researchers have a hard time studying due to the obstructions present, from stars, gas, and space dust.
And while researchers, astronomers, and scientists claim that humans only know little of the space around us, they are not lying as even with modern technology, we are still missing out on many. And this statement gets another redefinition from the recent discovery of similar-looking galaxies from the past, resembling the Milky Way.
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