For the first time, reseachers observe birth of universe's earliest galaxies

Researchers at the University of Copenhagen used the James Webb Space Telescope to become the first to see the formation of three of the earliest galaxies in the universe more than 13 billion years ago.

A study published on May 23 in Science journal revealed details of the stunning discovery which will contribute important knowledge about the universe.

Researchers at the Niels Bohr Institute have witnessed the birth of three of the universe's absolute earliest galaxies for the first time in the history of astronomy. The birth was estimated somewhere between 13.3 and 13.4 billion years ago.

Scientists said that the James Webb, which is the largest and most powerful telescope ever launched into space, sent these first "live observations" of formative galaxies to Earth.

As quoted by phys.org, Assistant Professor Kasper Elm Heintz from the Niels Bohr Institute, who led the new study, said, "You could say that these are the first 'direct' images of galaxy formation that we've ever seen."

"Whereas James Webb has previously shown us early galaxies at later stages of evolution, here we witness their very birth, and thus, the construction of the first star systems in the universe," he added.

The researchers were able to see signals from large amounts of gas that accumulate on a mini-galaxy in the process of being built. Theories also support the same to explain how galaxies are formed. But it had never actually been seen.

In a report, NASA said that Webb's data shows these "galaxies are surrounded by gas that the researchers suspect to be almost purely hydrogen and helium, the earliest elements to exist in the cosmos".

NASA said in its report that the ultra-sensitive instruments installed on Webb were able to detect an unusual amount of dense gas surrounding these galaxies. This gas will likely end up fueling the formation of new stars in the galaxies.

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"These galaxies are like sparkling islands in a sea of otherwise neutral, opaque gas. Without Webb, we would not be able to observe these very early galaxies, let alone learn so much about their formation," Heintz said as quoted by NASA.

"We're moving away from a picture of galaxies as isolated ecosystems. At this stage in the history of the universe, galaxies are all intimately connected to the intergalactic medium with its filaments and structures of pristine gas," said Simone Nielsen as quoted by NASA. He is a co-author.

(With inputs from agencies)