'Formed due to nuclear fusion': NASA's James Webb Telescope discovers oldest known oxygen in an ancient galaxy
Produced by Tarun Mishra
Produced by Tarun Mishra
Astronomers have identified oxygen in JADES-GS-z14-0, the most distant known galaxy, located 290 million years after the Big Bang. The finding challenges previous assumptions about galaxy evolution.
JWST first detected the galaxy in 2024, revealing an enormous halo of young stars that had been burning for at least 90 million years. The Near Infrared Spectrograph confirmed the presence of heavy elements.
Heavy elements like oxygen form through nuclear fusion in stars and are released upon their deaths. The detection of such elements so early in the universe’s history suggests a much faster star formation and death cycle than previously thought.
The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile provided additional data, revealing that JADES-GS-z14-0 contains ten times more oxygen than expected for a galaxy of its age
The discovery contradicts the assumption that early galaxies formed slowly. Scientists previously believed the universe, at just 2% of its current age, was too young to host significant amounts of heavy elements.
Researchers suggest rapid element production could be influenced by early supermassive black holes, stellar explosions, or dark energy. However, the exact mechanism behind such accelerated galaxy evolution remains uncertain.
The unexpected maturity of JADES-GS-z14-0 raises new questions about the timeline of galaxy formation. Scientists will continue studying similar galaxies to refine their understanding of the universe’s early evolution.