In a galaxy far, far away, there were massive galaxies that were dating back to the beginning of the universe.
These galaxies were discovered by a group of astronomers who were using the James Webb Space Telescope to observe the universe. They were shocked to see that these galaxies were already massive just 600 million years after the Big Bang.
The observations were among the first James Webb Space Telescope data set. The $10 billion observatory has the ability to peer through clouds of gas and dust using infrared imaging.
Researchers reported the findings on Wednesday in the journal Nature, highlighting the size and maturity of the apparent massive galaxies.
The lead researcher, Ivo Labbe of Australia’s Swinburne University of Technology, was amazed by the discovery.
He said that most galaxies in this era were still small and only gradually growing larger over time, but there were a few that fast-tracked to maturity. He was unsure of why this was the case or how it would work.
