'Red Monsters': NASA’s James Webb Telescope discovers 12.8-billion-year-old galaxies
Produced by Tarun Mishra
Produced by Tarun Mishra
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has detected three massive "red monster" galaxies, each with a mass approximately 100 billion times that of the Sun. These galaxies, dating back over 12.8 billion years, formed just a few hundred million years after the Big Bang.
The discovery contradicts established theories of galaxy formation. According to current models, galaxies should grow more slowly in the early universe, with star formation occurring gradually. These massive galaxies suggest a faster and more efficient process of early star formation.
The term "red monsters" refers to their red glow, observed in the infrared spectrum using JWST’s Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam). This redshifted light results from the galaxies' extreme distance, as their light has stretched during the universe's expansion.
Around 80 per cent of the gas in these galaxies has been converted into stars, a rate far exceeding the typical 20 per cent observed in galaxies today. This efficiency challenges the limits of known star formation processes, raising questions about the conditions in the early universe.
The rapid growth of these galaxies suggests that conditions in the early universe—such as higher gas densities or stronger gravitational forces—may have enabled more efficient star and galaxy formation than previously thought.
JWST’s advanced infrared capabilities allow astronomers to peer through cosmic dust and observe light from the universe’s earliest epochs. This enables detailed study of galaxies like the red monsters, providing new insights into early cosmic evolution.
Astronomers aim to investigate the internal structures and formation processes of these galaxies. Ongoing observations with JWST and complementary instruments, such as the ALMA telescope in Chile, will explore the dynamics and mechanisms driving their rapid growth, reshaping our understanding of the universe's early stages.
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