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Space

Fast-growing galaxy seen by JWST offers window on the early universe

A galaxy seen 700 million years after the big bang appears surprisingly mature, suggesting some pockets of the early universe were more tranquil than expected

By Jonathan O’Callaghan

12 June 2023

JWST’s view of the galaxy JADES-GS+53.18343-27.79097

NASA, ESA, CSA, JADES Collaboration

Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have found a galaxy in the early universe that appears surprisingly mature, having grown a substantial inner core much more quickly than expected.

The galaxy was found by a JWST survey called JADES, and we see it as it was 700 million years after the big bang, when it was perhaps just 100 million years old. It has a mass about 150 times less than that of the Milky Way.

It had been thought that …

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