James Webb Space Telescope Feed Post

University of California | Astrophysicists confirm the faintest galaxy ever seen in the early universe

The small, distant galaxy JD1 is typical of the kind that burned through hydrogen left over from the Big Bang. After the Big Bang, the universe expanded and cooled sufficiently for hydrogen atoms to form. In the absence of light from the first stars and galaxies, the universe entered a period known as the cosmic dark ages. The first stars and galaxies appeared several hundred million years later and began burning away the hydrogen fog left over from the Big Bang, rendering the universe transparent, like it is today. Researchers led by astrophysicists from UCLA confirmed the existence of a distant, faint galaxy typical of those whose light burned through the hydrogen atoms; the finding should help them understand how the cosmic dark ages ended. Read more at UCLA.