Webb Discovers One of the Universe's First Galaxies (phys.org)
(Wednesday May 20, 2026 @03:00AM (BeauHD)
from the blast-from-the-past dept.)
- Reference: 0183293019
- News link: https://science.slashdot.org/story/26/05/20/022206/webb-discovers-one-of-the-universes-first-galaxies
- Source link: https://phys.org/news/2026-05-webb-universe-galaxies.html
Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have identified an ultra-faint galaxy [1]seen just 800 million years after the Big Bang . The galaxy contains almost no heavy elements, shows signs of intense early stellar radiation, and could offer a rare glimpse into the first stages of galaxy formation. Phys.org reports:
> In a paper [2]published in the journal Nature , a team of scientists led by Kimihiko Nakajima, an astronomer at Kanazawa University, Japan, describes how they used the telescope to study a part of the deep universe and discovered a faint galaxy called LAP1-B. "LAP1-B establishes a 'fossil in the making,' a direct high-redshift progenitor of the ancient ultra-faint dwarf galaxies observed in the local universe," they wrote. Because the galaxy is so small and distant, it would normally be impossible to see. However, it was spotted due to a phenomenon known as gravitational lensing, in which a massive cluster of closer galaxies acts like a giant magnifying glass, boosting the light from LAP1-B by 100 times.
>
> The scientists realized that most of the light from the galaxy wasn't coming from the stars, but from glowing clouds of gas. They analyzed this light by splitting it into a spectrum and studying the emission lines, which revealed the chemical composition of the gas. They found that the galaxy contains almost no heavy elements, and its oxygen abundance is about 240 times lower than the sun's, making it one of the most primitive star-forming galaxies ever observed. The emission lines also revealed intense ionizing radiation, which is what scientists expect to see from the first generation of stars.
>
> The team also measured an elevated carbon-to-oxygen ratio. This matches the predicted chemical signature for the first star explosions in history from Population III stars, the first stars to exist in the universe. The stars we see today are Population I stars, which formed later and contain more heavy elements. Another fascinating finding is that, after measuring the gas's motion and speed, the researchers concluded that the galaxy is held together by a massive cloud of invisible dark matter.
[1] https://phys.org/news/2026-05-webb-universe-galaxies.html
[2] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10374-1
> In a paper [2]published in the journal Nature , a team of scientists led by Kimihiko Nakajima, an astronomer at Kanazawa University, Japan, describes how they used the telescope to study a part of the deep universe and discovered a faint galaxy called LAP1-B. "LAP1-B establishes a 'fossil in the making,' a direct high-redshift progenitor of the ancient ultra-faint dwarf galaxies observed in the local universe," they wrote. Because the galaxy is so small and distant, it would normally be impossible to see. However, it was spotted due to a phenomenon known as gravitational lensing, in which a massive cluster of closer galaxies acts like a giant magnifying glass, boosting the light from LAP1-B by 100 times.
>
> The scientists realized that most of the light from the galaxy wasn't coming from the stars, but from glowing clouds of gas. They analyzed this light by splitting it into a spectrum and studying the emission lines, which revealed the chemical composition of the gas. They found that the galaxy contains almost no heavy elements, and its oxygen abundance is about 240 times lower than the sun's, making it one of the most primitive star-forming galaxies ever observed. The emission lines also revealed intense ionizing radiation, which is what scientists expect to see from the first generation of stars.
>
> The team also measured an elevated carbon-to-oxygen ratio. This matches the predicted chemical signature for the first star explosions in history from Population III stars, the first stars to exist in the universe. The stars we see today are Population I stars, which formed later and contain more heavy elements. Another fascinating finding is that, after measuring the gas's motion and speed, the researchers concluded that the galaxy is held together by a massive cloud of invisible dark matter.
[1] https://phys.org/news/2026-05-webb-universe-galaxies.html
[2] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10374-1
Re: (Score:1)
by geekmux ( 1040042 )
> A quick calculation says Ron Jeremy was not even legal.
If you count the cock rings, he’s actually much older than that.
The secret? Heard he was sucking off three hedgehogs a day.
Would be more interesting (Score:3)
if they see a galaxy 800 million years before the Big Bang.
Re: (Score:2)
We have already. It turns out the previous universe is run by alien cats. Admittedly they look no different from our current cats but that is just to fool us.
Re: (Score:2)
> We have already. It turns out the previous universe is run by alien cats. Admittedly they look no different from our current cats but that is just to fool us.
The previous universe..was run by the assholes of the animal kingdom?
(Yeah. We give them credit in history. But not enough for that trait.)