A new analysis based on data from the world’s most powerful space telescope has revealed some astonishing objects from the “infant” universe.
The latest images show 10 massive, bright, banana-shaped objects stretching across space, derived from the most recent analysis of 4,000 galaxies from the “cosmic dawn.”
10 banana-shaped objects identified as primordial galaxies – (Photo: NASA/ESA/CSA).
“This is a surprising and unexpected result, although there have been hints of it with Hubble,” said Dr. Viraj Pandya from Columbia University (USA), a member of the research team.
The images were filtered from the data of the James Webb Space Telescope, the newest and most powerful telescope in the world, co-operated by NASA, ESA, and CSA (the space agencies of the United States, Europe, and Canada).
Due to its extreme observation capabilities, this telescope can capture light coming from places billions of light-years away, meaning it takes billions of years for that light to reach the telescope.
The delay caused by the time light travels inadvertently allows people on Earth to obtain “x-ray vision” images of objects in the primordial universe, depicting their shapes and positions as the light began its journey billions of years ago.
Dr. Pandya and his colleagues plan to present detailed findings at the American Astronomical Society meeting on January 10, but they decided to share some preliminary details with the New York Times.
According to the authors, this discovery could profoundly change humanity’s understanding of how galaxies form and evolve.
Clearly, the banana shape of these primordial galaxies is entirely different from current galaxies, most of which are spiral galaxies with a bright “stellar disk.”
These ancient, irregular objects may also provide insights into dark matter, a hypothesized form of invisible matter that scientists believe makes up a large part of the universe.
Dark matter envelops galaxies and provides an enticing “nursery” for newly forming galaxies, like the “cosmic bananas” just observed.
