Webb Telescope Discovers Huge Galaxies Dating Back 600 Million Years

Webb Telescope Discovers Huge Galaxies¹ Dating Back 600 Million Years

Astronomers² have discovered what appear to be huge galaxies dating back to within 600 million years of the Big Bang. The findings suggest the early universe may have quickly produced these extremely large galaxies.

The new James Webb Space Telescope has seen even older galaxies, dating to within 300 million years of the beginning of the universe. But it is the size and maturity³ of these six galaxies that excite scientists.

Ivo Labbe of Australia's Swinburne University of Technology was the lead researcher. He and his team expected to find little galaxies this close to the beginning of the universe — not these very large ones.

He said most galaxies at that time are still small and slowly grow over time. But, "there are a few monsters that fast-track to maturity. Why this is the case or how this would work is unknown."

Each of the six objects looks to weigh billions of times more than our sun. In one of them, the total weight of all its stars may be as much as 100 billion times greater than our sun, the scientists found. They recently published their findings in the journal Nature.

Yet these galaxies are believed to be very compact. They have as many stars as our own Milky⁴ Way, but in a relatively⁵ small area in space, Labbe said.

Labbe said he and his team did not think the results were real at first. They thought there could not be galaxies as mature as the Milky Way so early in time. The objects appeared so big and bright that some members of the team thought they had made a mistake.

Pennsylvania State University's Joel Leja, who took part in the study, calls them "universe breakers."

The finding that "massive galaxy⁶ formation began extremely early in the history of the universe upends what many of us had thought was settled science," Leja said in a statement. "It turns out we found something so unexpected it actually creates problems for science. It calls the whole picture of early galaxy formation into question."

These galaxy observations were among the first data that came from the $10 billion Webb telescope. The telescope, from NASA and the European Space Agency, was launched just over a year ago to replace the Hubble Space Telescope. Hubble is approaching its 33rd year of service.

Webb is bigger and more powerful than Hubble. It can see through clouds of dust with its infrared⁷ vision and discover galaxies previously⁸ unseen. Scientists hope to eventually observe the first stars and galaxies formed following the creation of the universe 13.8 billion years ago.

The researchers still are awaiting official confirmation⁹ of their research. They are careful to call them candidates for now. Leja said it is possible that a few of the objects might not be galaxies, but very large black holes.

While some may prove to be smaller, Labbe said at least some of them will likely turn out to be huge galaxies. "The next year will tell us," he said.

One early lesson from Webb is "to let go of your expectations and be ready to be surprised," Labbe added.

Words in This Story

mature — adj. reached a final or desired state

monster— n. something that is extremely or unusually large

fast track — n. a process or way of proceeding¹⁰ that produces a desired result quickly

compact — adj. smaller than other things of the same kind

massive — adj. very large and heavy

upend — v. to cause to be upside down

infrared — adj. producing or using rays of light that cannot be seen and that are longer than rays that produce red light

1 galaxies   

星系( galaxy的名词复数 )； 银河系； 一群（杰出或著名的人物）

参考例句：

• Quasars are the highly energetic cores of distant galaxies. 类星体是遥远星系的极为活跃的核心体。
• We still don't know how many galaxies there are in the universe. 我们还不知道宇宙中有多少个星系。

2 astronomers   

n.天文学者，天文学家( astronomer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Astronomers can accurately foretell the date,time,and length of future eclipses. 天文学家能精确地预告未来日食月食的日期、时刻和时长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Astronomers used to ask why only Saturn has rings. 天文学家们过去一直感到奇怪，为什么只有土星有光环。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 maturity   

n.成熟；完成；(支票、债券等)到期

参考例句：

• These plants ought to reach maturity after five years.这些植物五年后就该长成了。
• This is the period at which the body attains maturity.这是身体发育成熟的时期。

4 milky   

adj.牛奶的，多奶的；乳白色的

参考例句：

• Alexander always has milky coffee at lunchtime.亚历山大总是在午餐时喝掺奶的咖啡。
• I like a hot milky drink at bedtime.我喜欢睡前喝杯热奶饮料。

5 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

6 galaxy   

n.星系；银河系；一群(杰出或著名的人物)

参考例句：

• The earth is one of the planets in the Galaxy.地球是银河系中的星球之一。
• The company has a galaxy of talent.该公司拥有一批优秀的人才。

7 infrared   

adj./n.红外线(的)

参考例句：

• Infrared is widely used in industry and medical science.红外线广泛应用于工业和医学科学。
• Infrared radiation has wavelengths longer than those of visible light.红外辐射的波长比可见光的波长长。

8 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

9 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

10 proceeding   

n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报

参考例句：

• This train is now proceeding from Paris to London.这次列车从巴黎开往伦敦。
• The work is proceeding briskly.工作很有生气地进展着。