• Education
    • Higher Education
    • Scholarships & Grants
    • Online Learning
    • School Reforms
    • Research & Innovation
  • Lifestyle
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
    • Fashion & Beauty
    • Home & Living
    • Relationships & Family
  • Technology & Startups
    • Software & Apps
    • Startup Success Stories
    • Startups & Innovations
    • Tech Regulations
    • Venture Capital
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Cybersecurity
    • Emerging Technologies
    • Gadgets & Devices
    • Industry Analysis
  • About us
  • Contact
  • Advertise with Us
  • Privacy & Policy
Today Headline
  • Home
  • World News
    • Us & Canada
    • Europe
    • Asia
    • Africa
    • Middle East
  • Politics
    • Elections
    • Political Parties
    • Government Policies
    • International Relations
    • Legislative News
  • Business & Finance
    • Market Trends
    • Stock Market
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Corporate News
    • Economic Policies
  • Science & Environment
    • Space Exploration
    • Climate Change
    • Wildlife & Conservation
    • Environmental Policies
    • Medical Research
  • Health
    • Public Health
    • Mental Health
    • Medical Breakthroughs
    • Fitness & Nutrition
    • Pandemic Updates
  • Sports
    • Football
    • Basketball
    • Tennis
    • Olympics
    • Motorsport
  • Entertainment
    • Movies
    • Music
    • TV & Streaming
    • Celebrity News
    • Awards & Festivals
  • Crime & Justice
    • Court Cases
    • Cybercrime
    • Policing
    • Criminal Investigations
    • Legal Reforms
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • World News
    • Us & Canada
    • Europe
    • Asia
    • Africa
    • Middle East
  • Politics
    • Elections
    • Political Parties
    • Government Policies
    • International Relations
    • Legislative News
  • Business & Finance
    • Market Trends
    • Stock Market
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Corporate News
    • Economic Policies
  • Science & Environment
    • Space Exploration
    • Climate Change
    • Wildlife & Conservation
    • Environmental Policies
    • Medical Research
  • Health
    • Public Health
    • Mental Health
    • Medical Breakthroughs
    • Fitness & Nutrition
    • Pandemic Updates
  • Sports
    • Football
    • Basketball
    • Tennis
    • Olympics
    • Motorsport
  • Entertainment
    • Movies
    • Music
    • TV & Streaming
    • Celebrity News
    • Awards & Festivals
  • Crime & Justice
    • Court Cases
    • Cybercrime
    • Policing
    • Criminal Investigations
    • Legal Reforms
No Result
View All Result
Today Headline
No Result
View All Result
Home Science & Environment Space Exploration

‘Cosmic miracle!’ James Webb Space Telescope discovers the earliest galaxy ever seen

May 30, 2025
in Space Exploration
Reading Time: 5 mins read
A A
0
The galaxy JADES-GS-z14-0 as seen by the James Webb Space Telescope is the most distant and earliest galaxy ever spotted existing just 300 million years
2
SHARES
4
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter


The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) excels at a lot of things, but there are two things it does better than any other scientific instrument in human history: spotting early galaxies and breaking its own records!

Now, the $10 billion NASA space telescope has done both things again, detecting a galaxy that existed just 280 million years after the Big Bang, a feat that the team behind this research has dubbed a “cosmic miracle.”

Currently, as the earliest and most distant galaxy ever detected, this “the mother of all early galaxies,” this new JWST discovery has been fittingly designated “MoM z14.”

“First and foremost, at the moment, this is the most distant object known to humanity. That title changes every so often, but I find it is always cause for pause and reflection,” team member and Yale University professor of Astronomy and Physics Pieter van Dokkum told Space.com. “MoM z14 existed when the universe was about 280 million years old – we’re getting quite close to the Big Bang.

“Just to put that in context, sharks have been around on Earth for a longer timespan!”


You may like

The JWST is seeing red again

Since it began sending data back to Earth in the summer of 2022, the JWST has excelled in detecting galaxies at so-called “high redshifts.”

Redshift refers to the phenomenon of the wavelength of light from distant and thus early sources being stretched and shifted toward the “red end” of the electromagnetic spectrum as it traverses expanding space.

The earlier and thus further away an object is, the greater the redshift.

The galaxy JADES-GS-z14-0 as seen by the James Webb Space Telescope is the most distant and earliest galaxy ever spotted existing just 300 million years (Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, B. Robertson (UC Santa Cruz), B. Johnson (CfA), S. Tacchella (Cambridge), P. Cargile (CfA).)

Prior to the discovery of MoM z14, the galaxy holding the title of earliest and distant was JADES-GS-z14-0, which existed just 300 million years after the Big Bang, or around 13.5 billion years ago.

This previous record galaxy has a redshift of z =14.32, while MoM z14 has a redshift of z = 14.44.

What do we know about the mother of all early galaxies?

There is a wider context to the observation of MoM z14 than the fact that it has broken the record for earliest known galaxy by 20 million years, though, as van Dokkum explained.

“The broader story here is that JWST was not expected to find any galaxies this early in the history of the universe, at least not at this stage of the mission,” van Dokkum said. “There are, very roughly, over 100 more relatively bright galaxies in the very early universe than were expected based on pre-JWST observations.”

Also, in addition to detecting this new, earliest, and most distant galaxy, the team was able to determine some of its characteristics using the JWST.

Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more!

A pixelated red dot against a black and blue background

MoM z14 as seen by the JWST as it existed just 280 million years after the Big Bang. (Image credit: Naidu et al (2025))

The researchers were able to determine that MoM z14 is around 50 times smaller than the Milky Way. The team also measured emission lines from the galaxy, indicating the presence of elements like nitrogen and carbon.

“The emission lines are unusual; it indicates that the galaxy is very young, with a rapidly increasing rate of forming new stars,” van Dokkum said. “There are also indications that there is not much neutral hydrogen gas surrounding the galaxy, which would be surprising: the very early universe is expected to be filled with neutral hydrogen.

“That needs even better spectra and more galaxies, to investigate more fully.”

a spacecraft floats in space. it consists of a roughly triangular body beneath a hexagonal mirror made of smaller gold hexagonal mirrors

An illustration of the James Webb Space Telescope in action. (Image credit: NASA)

The presence of carbon and nitrogen in MoM z14 indicates that there are earlier galaxies to be discovered than this 13.52 billion-year-old example.

That is because the very earliest galaxies in the universe and their stars were filled with the simplest elements in the cosmos, hydrogen and helium.

Later galaxies would be populated by these heavier elements, which astronomers somewhat confusingly call “metal,” as their stars forged them and then dispersed them in supernova explosions.

“MoM z14 is not one of the very first objects that formed in the universe, as the stars in those galaxies are composed of hydrogen and helium only – we would not see carbon or nitrogen,” van Dokkum said. “It could be part of the first wave of formation of ‘normal’ galaxies, that is, the first galaxies that have elements like nitrogen and carbon – but we’ve thought that before!”

As for finding even earlier galaxies than MoM z14 and perhaps even detecting that first generation, van Dokkum is confident that the JWST is up to the task.

He explained: “The JWST continues to push the boundary beyond where we thought it was, and at this point I would not be surprised if we find galaxies at z =15 or z =16!”

For now, van Dokkum and the rest of this team, led by Rohan Naidu of MIT’s Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, can celebrate breaking new ground in our understanding of the early cosmos.

“In a program like this, the whole team is always hoping for a ‘miracle,’ that is, that some of the candidate extremely early galaxies actually pan out and are not ‘mirages,’ objects whose colors look like extremely early objects,” van Dokkum concluded. “While we were hoping for some very early objects, I don’t think any of us expected to break the redshift record!”

A pre-peer-reviewed version of the team’s research is published on the paper repository site arXiv.

Previous Post

Portal Access secures $7M for chemotherapy port

Next Post

Your Salad Could Be Carrying Microplastics From Soil Into Your Body : ScienceAlert todayheadline

Related Posts

Venus as a morning star

Venus at greatest western elongation

May 31, 2025
4
Trump's 2026 budget would slash NASA funding by 24% and its workforce by nearly one third

Trump’s 2026 budget would slash NASA funding by 24% and its workforce by nearly one third

May 31, 2025
8
Next Post
a diagram showing the cross-section of a plant, labelled with the different ways microplastics can enter and affect the plant.

Your Salad Could Be Carrying Microplastics From Soil Into Your Body : ScienceAlert todayheadline

  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
Family calls for change after B.C. nurse dies by suicide after attacks on the job

Family calls for change after B.C. nurse dies by suicide after attacks on the job

April 2, 2025
Pioneering 3D printing project shares successes

Product reduces TPH levels to non-hazardous status

November 27, 2024

Hospital Mergers Fail to Deliver Better Care or Lower Costs, Study Finds todayheadline

December 31, 2024

Police ID man who died after Corso Italia fight

December 23, 2024
Harris tells supporters 'never give up' and urges peaceful transfer of power

Harris tells supporters ‘never give up’ and urges peaceful transfer of power

0
Des Moines Man Accused Of Shooting Ex-Girlfriend's Mother

Des Moines Man Accused Of Shooting Ex-Girlfriend’s Mother

0

Trump ‘looks forward’ to White House meeting with Biden

0
Catholic voters were critical to Donald Trump’s blowout victory: ‘Harris snubbed us’

Catholic voters were critical to Donald Trump’s blowout victory: ‘Harris snubbed us’

0

Moderna Receives U.S. FDA Approval for COVID-19 Vaccine mNEXSPIKE todayheadline

May 31, 2025

Sri Lanka foreign exchange earnings exceed imports by $531mn in April 2025 todayheadline

May 31, 2025
Venus as a morning star

Venus at greatest western elongation

May 31, 2025
Crews battle fire burning in Pala, evacuations in San Diego County

Crews battle fire burning in Pala, evacuations in San Diego County

May 31, 2025

Recent News

Moderna Receives U.S. FDA Approval for COVID-19 Vaccine mNEXSPIKE todayheadline

May 31, 2025
4

Sri Lanka foreign exchange earnings exceed imports by $531mn in April 2025 todayheadline

May 31, 2025
3
Venus as a morning star

Venus at greatest western elongation

May 31, 2025
4
Crews battle fire burning in Pala, evacuations in San Diego County

Crews battle fire burning in Pala, evacuations in San Diego County

May 31, 2025
5

TodayHeadline is a dynamic news website dedicated to delivering up-to-date and comprehensive news coverage from around the globe.

Follow Us

Browse by Category

  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Basketball
  • Business & Finance
  • Climate Change
  • Crime & Justice
  • Cybersecurity
  • Economic Policies
  • Elections
  • Entertainment
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Environmental Policies
  • Europe
  • Football
  • Gadgets & Devices
  • Health
  • Medical Research
  • Mental Health
  • Middle East
  • Motorsport
  • Olympics
  • Politics
  • Public Health
  • Relationships & Family
  • Science & Environment
  • Software & Apps
  • Space Exploration
  • Sports
  • Stock Market
  • Technology & Startups
  • Tennis
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized
  • Us & Canada
  • Wildlife & Conservation
  • World News

Recent News

Moderna Receives U.S. FDA Approval for COVID-19 Vaccine mNEXSPIKE todayheadline

May 31, 2025

Sri Lanka foreign exchange earnings exceed imports by $531mn in April 2025 todayheadline

May 31, 2025
  • Education
  • Lifestyle
  • Technology & Startups
  • About us
  • Contact
  • Advertise with Us
  • Privacy & Policy

© 2024 Todayheadline.co

Welcome Back!

OR

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Business & Finance
  • Corporate News
  • Economic Policies
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Market Trends
  • Crime & Justice
  • Court Cases
  • Criminal Investigations
  • Cybercrime
  • Legal Reforms
  • Policing
  • Education
  • Higher Education
  • Online Learning
  • Entertainment
  • Awards & Festivals
  • Celebrity News
  • Movies
  • Music
  • Health
  • Fitness & Nutrition
  • Medical Breakthroughs
  • Mental Health
  • Pandemic Updates
  • Lifestyle
  • Fashion & Beauty
  • Food & Drink
  • Home & Living
  • Politics
  • Elections
  • Government Policies
  • International Relations
  • Legislative News
  • Political Parties
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Middle East
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Cybersecurity
  • Emerging Technologies
  • Gadgets & Devices
  • Industry Analysis
  • Basketball
  • Football
  • Motorsport
  • Olympics
  • Climate Change
  • Environmental Policies
  • Medical Research
  • Science & Environment
  • Space Exploration
  • Wildlife & Conservation
  • Sports
  • Tennis
  • Technology & Startups
  • Software & Apps
  • Startup Success Stories
  • Startups & Innovations
  • Tech Regulations
  • Venture Capital
  • Uncategorized
  • World News
  • Us & Canada
  • Public Health
  • Relationships & Family
  • Travel
  • Research & Innovation
  • Scholarships & Grants
  • School Reforms
  • Stock Market
  • TV & Streaming
  • Advertise with Us
  • Privacy & Policy
  • About us
  • Contact

© 2024 Todayheadline.co