James Webb discovers the oldest galaxy in the universe – a 13.5-billion-year-old system of stars formed 300 million years after the Big Bang
- James Webb discovered a 13.5-billion-year-old galaxy dubbed GN-z13
- This galaxy formed just 300 million years after the Big Bang that occurred 13.8 billion years ago
- The previous record holder, discovered by the Hubble Telescope in 2015, was GN-z11 that dates back 400 million years after the universe birthed
NASA’s James Webb Telescope (JWST) has uncovered a 13.5 billion-year-old galaxy that is now the oldest universe seen by human eyes.
The galaxy, called GLASS-z13 (GN-z13), formed just 300 million years after the Big Bang that occurred 13.8 billion years ago.
The previous record holder, discovered by the Hubble Telescope in 2015, was GN-z11 that dates back 400 million years after the universe birthed.
JWST captured a look at GN-z13 using its Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) instrument, which is capable of detecting live from the earliest stars and galaxies.
NASA’s James Webb Telescope (JWST) has uncovered a 13.5 billion-year-old galaxy that is now the oldest universe seen by human eyes. The galaxy, called GLASS-z13 (GN-z13), was formed just 300 million years after the Big Bang that occurred 13.8 billion years ago
While investigating the area near GN-z13, JWST also spotted GN-z11 and scientists from the Harvard and Smithsonian Centre of Astrophysics in Massachusetts note both galaxies are very small, New Scientist reports.
GN-z13 is around 1,600 light years across and GLASS z-11 is 2,300 light years.
This is compared to our own Milky Way that is around 100,000 light years in diameter.
The paper, published in arXiv, notes that both galaxies have a mass of one billion suns, noting this is because they formed shortly after the Big Bang occurred.
![While investigating the area near GN-z13 (top), JWST also spotted GN-z11 (bottom) and the scientists from the Harvard and Smithsonian Centre of Astrophysics in Massachusetts note both galaxies are very small](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/07/20/17/60497503-11032541-image-m-39_1658333151907.jpg)
While investigating the area near GN-z13 (top), JWST also spotted GN-z11 (bottom) and the scientists from the Harvard and Smithsonian Centre of Astrophysics in Massachusetts note both galaxies are very small
![The previous record holder, discovered by the Hubble Telescope in 2015, is GN-z11 (pictured) that dates back 400 million years after the universe birthed](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/07/20/17/60497495-11032541-image-a-29_1658332803489.jpg)
The previous record holder, discovered by the Hubble Telescope in 2015, is GN-z11 (pictured) that dates back 400 million years after the universe birthed
The team suggests this occurred as the galaxies were growing and gobbled up stars in the region.
‘These two objects already place novel constraints on galaxy evolution in the cosmic dawn epoch,’ researchers shared in the paper.
‘They indicate that the discovery of GNz11 was not simply a matter of good fortune, but that there is likely a population of UV luminous sources with very high star-formation efficiencies capable of compiling.’
Gabriel Brammer at the Niehls Bohr Institute in Denmark, part of the GLASS team and a co-discoverer of GN-z11, told New Scientist that further analysis will be needed to confirm the distance to the two galaxies.
‘They’re very convincing candidates,’ he says. ‘We were pretty confident that JWST would see distant galaxies. But we’re a little bit surprised how easy it is to detect them.’
Brammer made headlines this week when he released a never-before-seen image snapped by the JWST.
![The paper notes that both galaxies have a mass of one billion suns, noting this is because they formed shortly after the Big Bang occurred. Pictured are the galaxies locations](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/07/20/17/60497511-11032541-The_paper_notes_that_both_galaxies_have_a_mass_of_one_billion_su-m-40_1658333604207.jpg)
The paper notes that both galaxies have a mass of one billion suns, noting this is because they formed shortly after the Big Bang occurred. Pictured are the galaxies locations
![Gabriel Brammer, part of the GLASS team and a co-discoverer of GN-z11, said further analysis will be needed to confirm the distance to the two galaxies. Brammer made headlines this week when he released a never-before-seen image snapped by the JWST (pictured)](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/07/20/18/60493797-11032541-Gabriel_Brammer_part_of_the_GLASS_team_and_a_co_discoverer_of_GN-a-1_1658337398750.jpg)
Gabriel Brammer, part of the GLASS team and a co-discoverer of GN-z11, said further analysis will be needed to confirm the distance to the two galaxies. Brammer made headlines this week when he released a never-before-seen image snapped by the JWST (pictured)
The astronomer shared a stunning photo of the spiraling arms of the ‘phantom galaxy,’ formally known as NGC 628 or Messier 74.
Webb took the image of NGC 628 on July 17 and sent the data back to Earth where it was stored in the Barbara Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes, (MAST), which is open to the public.
Brammer’s image caught the attention of other astronomers and space enthusiasts, who wanted to learn more about how he made the image and what it was that they are looking at.
‘For a tiny bit more context, the purple color cast here is actually ‘real’ in the sense that emission from interstellar cigarette smoke (PAH molecules) makes the filters used for the blue and red channels brighter relative to the green,’ Brammer wrote in a tweet.
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