James Webb Space Telescope Discovers Ghostly Galaxy AzTECC71
The discovery supports theories of a dustier early universe and suggests the existence of numerous undetected galaxies.
- NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has detected a distant galaxy, AzTECC71, that was previously undetectable by the Hubble Space Telescope.
- The discovery of AzTECC71, which is believed to date back to nearly 1 billion years after the Big Bang, supports theories that massive stellar nurseries could have existed that long ago and may be more common than previously believed.
- The early universe could have been far dustier than previously thought, allowing for star-forming galaxies to evolve and grow.
- The fact that AzTECC71 is hard to spot suggests that there could be hundreds, if not thousands, of other galaxies out there, hiding in plain sight.
- The James Webb Space Telescope's infrared vision allows it to detect some of the oldest, faintest light in the universe, studying a period less than 300 million years after the Big Bang, when many of the first stars and galaxies were born.