New Study using James Webb Space Telescope Reveals the Abundance of Galaxies Like Our Own Milky Way
Scientists from The University of Manchester in the UK and University of Victoria in Canada, part of an international team of researchers, have made a groundbreaking discovery using the James Webb Space Telescope. The team has found that galaxies similar to our own Milky Way dominate throughout the universe, and are far more common than previously thought.
The research, published in The Astrophysical Journal on September 22, suggests that disk galaxies are ten times more abundant in the early years of the universe than previously believed. This challenges the existing theory that disk galaxies were rare until the universe reached its “middle-aged” phase.
Previously, astronomers believed that newly formed galaxies that merged together just after the Big Bang were too fragile to possess any significant structures such as spiral arms or rings. It was thought that these features emerged at least six billion years after the Big Bang. However, the new study suggests that these delicate shapes could have manifested as early as 3.7 billion years after the birth of the universe.
Christopher Conselice, an astronomy professor at The University of Manchester and co-author of the study, stated, “Based on our results, astronomers must rethink our understanding of the formation of the first galaxies and how galaxy evolution occurred over the past 10 billion years.”
Lead author Leonardo Ferreira of the University of Victoria expressed his astonishment at the findings. “For over 30 years, it was thought that these disk galaxies were rare in the early universe due to the common violent encounters that galaxies undergo. The fact that Webb finds so many is another sign of the power of this instrument and that the structures of galaxies form earlier in the universe, much earlier in fact, than anyone had anticipated.”
The team analyzed a sample set of nearly 4,000 galaxies from the early universe, classifying them by shape and structure. The galaxies were categorized as disks, point sources, or spheroids, and further classified based on whether they exhibited smooth or structured features. The structured galaxies showed bursts of star formation and indications of mergers with other galaxies.
These findings present a need for new ideas and theories to explain the evolution of galaxies over the past 10 billion years. The research conducted using the James Webb Space Telescope has opened a new chapter in our understanding of the universe, challenging existing beliefs and pushing the boundaries of knowledge in the field of astronomy.