In new research published in Nature by international scientists, reported the location of six massive galaxies that were identified in the early universe, which would be changing what scientists previously knew about the origins of the universe.
According to a report published on the website of infobaeUsing the first data set published by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, the team discovered objects as old as the Milky Way, when the universe was only 3 percent of its current age, about 500-700 million years. after the big bang.
Joel Leja, assistant professor of astronomy and astrophysics at Penn State, explained: “These objects are much more massive than anyone expected. We expected to find small, young, baby galaxies at this time, but we have discovered galaxies as mature as our own at what was previously understood as the dawn of the universe.”
The researchers showed evidence that the six galaxies found are much more massive than anyone expected and question everything previously told about the creation and beginning of the universe.
Scientists, with “an open mind”
For many years we have read about the Big Bang, the main scientific theory of creation, but Leja believes that scientists should keep an open mind after the discovery of James Webb.
“This is our first look so far, so it’s important that we keep an open mind about what we’re looking at. While the data indicates that they are likely galaxies, I think there is a real possibility that some of these objects turn out to be obscured supermassive black holes,” he analyzed.
“Regardless, the size of what we discovered means that the known mass in stars in this period of our universe is up to 100 times greater than we had previously thought. Even if we cut the sample in half, this is still an amazing change.”
The galaxies the team discovered are so massive that they are in tension with 99% of cosmology models. Such a high amount of mass would require altering cosmology models or revising scientific understanding of galaxy formation in the early universe.
“Either scenario requires a fundamental change in our understanding of how the universe came to be. We looked at the very early universe for the first time and had no idea what we were going to find. It turns out that we are dealing with something so unexpected that it actually creates problems for science.