Produced by: Tarun Mishra Designed by: Mohsin Shaikh
In a remarkable discovery, astronomers have identified the earliest known barred spiral galaxy with the help of James Webb Telescope, closely resembling our Milky Way. Surprisingly, this galaxy predates previous estimates, existing when the universe was just 2 billion years old
Barred spiral galaxies are characterized by a central bar-shaped structure made of stars, from which spiral arms extend. Around two-thirds of all spiral galaxies, including the Milky Way, feature this prominent stellar bar, contributing to star formation
Previous models of galaxy formation suggested that barred spiral galaxies began forming approximately 4 billion years after the Big Bang. However, new research by astronomers challenges this assumption. The study was published in the Nature Journal, a British weekly scientific publication
Astronomers made this intriguing discovery using data from the James Webb Space Telescope's Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science (CEERS) survey, which has captured images of thousands of distant galaxies. The galaxy initially appeared unusual and unclassifiable in shape
To identify the peculiar galaxy, researchers cross-referenced the James Webb Space Telescope data with information from the Hubble Space Telescope. This process led to the identification of a barred spiral galaxy, which they named Ceers-2112
The light from Ceers-2112 has travelled since 2 billion years after the Big Bang, an event occurring approximately 13.7 billion years ago. This makes ceers-2112 the most distant barred spiral galaxy ever observed
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), with its sixfold greater light-gathering capacity compared to the Hubble, played a crucial role in capturing this distant galaxy's features in detail
Ceers-2112 was observed at a redshift of 3, when the universe was 2,100 million years old. This means that the light from the galaxy took an astonishing 11.7 billion years to reach the James Webb Space Telescope
This groundbreaking discovery challenges existing ideas about the timeline of galactic bar formation and the growth of galaxies. Observations of galaxies like Ceers-2112 could enhance our understanding of galaxy formation and the early evolution of the Milky Way
Understanding and discovering galaxies like Ceers-2112 is of great significance, as it provides a window into the history of our own galaxy and, by extension, our origins. It allows us to peer into the story of the Milky Way and the universe's early days
This momentous discovery not only unveils the ancient galaxy Ceers-2112 but also sheds light on the enigmatic realm of dark matter. It suggests that, at an age of about two billion years, this galaxy's structure was primarily influenced by ordinary matter rather than dark matter, offering fresh insights into early galactic evolution and the mysteries of the universe