🔭 Record broken: a galaxy observed when the Universe was only 2% of its current age

The James Webb Space Telescope has allowed astronomers to spot a galaxy so distant that it sends us an image of the cosmos just 280 million years after the Big Bang. This observation thus offers an exceptional window into the earliest moments of cosmic history.

Named MoM-z14, this galaxy emits light that has traveled nearly 13.5 billion years to reach us. It therefore provides a direct glimpse of the cosmic dawn, that period when the first stars and galaxies emerged from the primordial darkness. Thanks to James Webb, scientists can now explore these remote epochs with unmatched precision.


MoM-z14 stands out due to its luminosity and compactness, characteristics unexpected for such an ancient object. Measurements have also revealed high levels of nitrogen, indicating that massive stars were able to form and evolve at an accelerated pace soon after the Universe's birth. These properties suggest that the early cosmic environment was more active than expected, with stellar processes having occurred much faster than previously assumed.

Before the arrival of James Webb, primordial galaxies were described as small, dim, and rare. However, MoM-z14 and other similar galaxies appear much more developed, exhibiting strong brightness and an already advanced chemical composition. Astronomers are therefore forced to re-examine the timeline of cosmic structure formation.

The team behind this work, published in Open Journal of Astrophysics, notes that each new observation with Webb raises new questions. This advancement shows how much our knowledge of the early Universe remains fragmentary.

This breakthrough suggests that other records could fall soon. The telescope continues to uncover unprecedented aspects of the earliest ages, promising many more revelations about the origins of everything around us.