James Webb Space Telescope discovers distant galaxy never before discovered

The James Webb Space Telescope has broken its own observing record by discovering a more distant galaxy never before discovered, the North American space agency NASA announced this Thursday.

This galaxy, which existed about 290 million years after the “big bang,” presents features with “profound implications” for our understanding of the early years of the universe, the agency explains.

Called JADES-GS-z14-0, it “does not belong to the type of galaxy predicted by theoretical models and computer simulations of the universe,” two researchers associated with the discovery, Stefano Carniani and Kevin Heylin, said in a statement.

“We are excited to see the extraordinary diversity of galaxies that exist in the cosmic world,” they add.

Since its launch in December 2021, the telescope has observed galaxies and then checked out more distant ones. The newly discovered galaxy is one of the most distant ever discovered, forcing the telescope to break its own record, AFP reports.

The galaxy’s location is “exceptionally bright given its distance,” and NASA estimates it is millions to hundreds of millions of years away from the Sun.

The question arises: “How was nature able to create such a bright, massive and large galaxy in less than 300 million years?” asked two researchers.

The James Webb Telescope is located 1.5 million kilometers from Earth and is used for observations by scientists around the world.