James Webb Space Telescope spots earliest-known galaxy: What a new study says

Sub : Science and tech

Sec: Space sector

Context:

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has spotted the earliest-known galaxy called as JADES-GS-z14-0.

More on news:

JWST, which by peering across vast cosmic distances is looking way back in time, observed the galaxy as it existed about 290 million years after the Big Bang event that initiated the universe roughly 13.8 billion years ago.
This period spanning the universe’s first few hundred million years is called cosmic dawn.

What do we know about the galaxy?

This galaxy, called JADES-GS-z14-0, measures about 1,700-light years across.
A light year is the distance light travels in a year, which is 9.5 trillion km.
The galaxy has a mass equivalent to 500 million stars the size of our Sun and is rapidly forming new stars – about 20 every year.
Until now, the earliest-known galaxy dated to about 320 million years after the Big Bang, as announced by the JADES team last year.
The JADES team in the same study disclosed the discovery of the second oldest-known galaxy, from about 303 million years post-Big Bang.

Why is the galaxy so bright?

Hypotheses that have been advanced to explain the luminosity of early galaxies are as follows:
The first attributed it to supermassive black holes in these galaxies gobbling up material.
These galaxies are populated by more stars than expected or by stars that are brighter than those around today.

About James Webb Space Telescope (JWST):

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST or “Webb”) is a joint NASA–ESA–CSA space telescope that is planned to succeed the Hubble Space Telescope as NASA’s flagship astrophysics mission.
The JWST will provide improved infrared resolution and sensitivity over Hubble, and will enable a broad range of investigations across the fields of astronomy and cosmology, including observing some of the most distant events and objects in the universe, such as the formation of the first galaxies.
JWST will study various phases in the history of the universe, from the formation of solar systems to the evolution of our own Solar System.
The James Webb Space Telescope (sometimes called JWST or Webb) is an orbiting infrared observatory that will complement and extend the discoveries of the Hubble Space Telescope, with longer wavelength coverage and greatly improved sensitivity.