Missouri astronomers find dozens of galaxies that could be among universe's earliest

A team of astronomers from the University of Missouri has found 87 galaxies that could be the earliest known galaxies in the universe, according to a recent article published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.

The team, lead by University of Missouri associate professor of physics and astronomy Haojing Yan, used data from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) early release observations to locate possible galaxies at "very high redshifts." This measures how far away an object is by changing colors and light waves those objects emit, a news release said. 

“Finding such a large number of galaxies in the early parts of the universe suggests that we might need to revise our previous understanding of galaxy formation,” Yan said in the release. “Our finding gives us the first indication that a lot of galaxies could have been formed in the universe much earlier than previously thought.”

Scientists use redshifts to figure out how far away a galaxy is from Earth. When an object is moving toward us, the light it omits has shorter wavelengths and appears blue, which is why it's commonly known as a blueshift. When an object is moving away, the wavelengths are longer and is red in color. 

The team used light captured by the JWST to locate galaxies. According to Yan, objects in space, such as galaxies that are at high redshifts (11 and above), can only be detected by infrared light. This is beyond what NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope can detect, because Hubble only sees from ultraviolet to near-infrared light.  

Yan emphasized the importance of the JWST in making this discovery possible. The telescope has the sensitivity and resolution needed to detect objects in space that are located at high redshifts. 

He added that the discovery is only the beginning. Other teams of astronomers are likely to find similar results in other parts of the universe as the JWST continues to provide mankind with a new view of the deepest parts of the universe.