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The James Webb Telescope has given us a peek into the early universe and spotted monster galaxies during that time, which have left astronomers stumped. They have not been able to answer how during its infancy the universe hosted such large galaxies. The fully-developed, mammoth structures seemed to be growing at an extraordinary pace, defying theoretical predictions.

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Austin graduate student Katherine Chworowsky who led the study, said, “We are still seeing more galaxies than predicted, although none of them are so massive that they ‘break’ the universe.”

Now a study has revealed what has really been going on. Published in the Astronomical Journal, led by a research team from the University of Texas at Austin, the research suggests that black holes made some of the early galaxies appear bigger than they actually are. This is because they are consuming gas at a lightning-fast rate.

The revelations were made by Webb’s Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science (CEERS) Survey.

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Astronomers found that the high speed at which the gas particles moved caused friction and caused them to emit more heat and light. This made the galaxies appear a lot brighter in the telescope. The conclusion then was that there are more stars in the galaxies and that's why they looked huge.

Also Read: How dark is space? Light in the universe comes from only one type of source

This means that these galaxies are within the predictions of the standard cosmos model. 

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All is well!

“The bottom line is there is no crisis in terms of the standard model of cosmology,” study co-author Dr. Steven Finkelstein, a professor of astronomy at UT Austin, said.

However, the mystery of giant galaxies is still not fully solved. There are still around twice as many monster galaxies captured by Webb in the early universe than should exist as per the standard model.

As per one theory, star formation probably happened in a different manner in the early universe. They likely formed faster than today because of a denser universe and a greater contracting pull.

"Maybe in the early universe, galaxies were better at turning gas into stars,” Chworowsky said.

"There is still that sense of intrigue. Not everything is fully understood," she added.