NASA James Webb Spots Ancient Galaxies, As Old as the ‘Big Bang’ said to ‘Rewrite History’

Isaiah Richard, Tech Times 22 February 2023, 08:02 pm

The famous James Webb Space Telescope gave the world significant discoveries in the past, but it stumbled upon a finding in the galaxy that took it back eons ago, as it saw ancient galaxies in its deep space imagery. In particular, James Webb found half a dozen of old galaxies, close to the Big Bang's age, through a recent study that used its findings.

Webb may not be aware that it discovered ancient galaxies in its probe of the universe, but the powerful telescope from NASA brought significant information that could rewrite history as we know it.

NASA James Webb Spots Ancient Galaxies as Old as Big Bang

(Photo : NASA, ESA, CSA, I. Labbe (Swinburne University of Technology). Image processing: G. Brammer (Niels Bohr Institute’s Cosmic Dawn Center at the University of Copenhagen))

According to a press release by Penn State researchers (via EurekAlert), a discovery by James Webb helped the team learn more about the ancient galaxies it spotted by the space telescope. These galaxies are ancient ones, and they existed as old as the Big Bang, which to the world's understanding, should not be present as the universe only started forming.

"We expected only to find tiny, young, baby galaxies at this point in time, but we've discovered galaxies as mature as our own in what was previously understood to be the dawn of the universe," according to Joel Leja, assistant professor of astronomy and astrophysics at Penn State.

It brings a massive question to what people knew all along, centering on the universe's creation, with the Big Bang being the reset to everything in the cosmos.

Researchers use JWST Data to Determine the Galaxies

The team published their findings in Nature's journal, with information about the six galaxies they discovered which are already formed galaxies billions of years ago.

The James Webb only shows that galaxies may form faster and mature earlier than what the public and experts know of, especially with this discovery of ancient galaxies already present as early as the Big Bang.

James Webb Space Telescope's Contributions

NASA's famous James Webb Space Telescope is not new to discovering many cosmic phenomena in the universe, especially with its powerful setup that expands more of the deep space imagery tech the planet uses. It is no stranger to spotting galaxies, asteroids, and other heavenly bodies, with a recent discovery of a crowded field of galaxies with great detail.

The JWST proved its capabilities to spot galaxies in their early stages or ancient states, as present in the universe that we know of, giving more information as to what is around the Earth. There are other Milky Way galaxies-like formations in the cosmos, particularly those which existed in the past, which the space telescope managed to unveil.

James Webb's capabilities do not go unnoticed, as researchers and astronomers join hands in their study, to learn more of what exists in the nether regions of space, but also those existing throughout time. The recent discovery of these eons-age galaxies brings a significant change to the world's knowledge of the universe, especially amidst the Big Bang era.