In a surprising discovery, scientists have identified a ‘weird’ galaxy that may offer new insights into the universe’s origins. Using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, researchers observed a galaxy with an unusual light signature, where its gas appeared to shine brighter than its stars- an unprecedented phenomenon, The Independent reported.
The galaxy dates back to about a billion years after the Big Bang. Researchers believe it could fill a missing gap in the evolution of galaxies, illustrating a phase between the first stars and the fully developed galaxies we are familiar with today.
“When I first saw the galaxy’s spectrum, I thought, ‘That’s strange,'” said lead researcher Alex Cameron from the University of Oxford. “This is exactly what the Webb telescope was built for to uncover completely new phenomena in the early universe that help explain how the cosmic story began.”
The research team analyzed the data and developed computer models showing that if extremely hot, massive stars heated cosmic gas clouds, the gas could outshine the stars. These models closely matched the observations from Webb.
Scientists suggest that the galaxy is undergoing intense star formation within a gas cloud, which is being illuminated by the light from the newly formed stars, making the cloud glow brightly enough to be detected across vast distances.
Named Galaxy 9422, this newfound object remains somewhat of an enigma. It is unclear how typical it is of galaxies from this era or how it evolved from even earlier stages in cosmic history.
“It’s a thrilling time,” Cameron said. “Using the Webb telescope to study this previously unreachable era is just the start of discoveries and a deeper understanding.”
The findings are detailed in the paper, “Nebular Dominated Galaxies: Insights into the Stellar Initial Mass Function at High Redshift,” published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
