'6.5 billion years away': James Webb finds ancient stars hiding in a cosmic Dragon Arc

Produced by: Mohsin Shaikh

Star discovery

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope spotted individual stars in a galaxy 6.5 billion light-years away, highlighting JWST’s unmatched capability in studying distant celestial bodies.

Gravitational lensing

Abell 370, a galaxy cluster, acted as a cosmic magnifying glass, bending light through gravitational lensing and revealing hidden stars in the distant universe.

Einstein’s ring

The gravitational bending created an “Einstein Ring,” a phenomenon predicted by Einstein’s 1915 theory of general relativity, beautifully showcasing warped spacetime.

Dragon Arc

Within the Dragon Arc, scientists observed 44 stars, many of them red supergiants, providing a rare glimpse into the stellar makeup of distant galaxies.

Red supergiants

JWST detected stars similar to Betelgeuse and Aldebaran, massive red supergiants nearing the ends of their lives, revealing insights into stellar evolution in early galaxies.

Galactic evolution

The discovery of red supergiants in a distant galaxy provides clues on how star-forming and dying processes shaped early galactic structures.

Credit: ESO/L. Calçada

Dark matter clues

The study of gravitational lensing also offers indirect evidence of dark matter’s role in bending light, helping astronomers understand its mysterious properties.

Cosmic revolution

This breakthrough opens new doors for exploring the evolution of galaxies, dark matter interactions, and the lifecycle of stars in distant parts of the universe.

Credit: NASA

Future potential

JWST’s continued exploration promises to revolutionize our understanding of dark matter, dark energy, and the mechanisms driving the universe’s growth.