One of the principal functions of the JWST is to ascertain the other galaxies , exposit our exploration of the universe in both outer space and clip . In the few weeks since the space telescope ’s first data release , astronomer have mine its output to reveal a galaxyolder than anywe had fleck before , and then possiblybroke that disc again . The statute title of oldest and most upstage galaxy may have already been broken for a third time , but in this showcase , the billet − dubbed " Schrödinger ’s galaxy candidate " − is a lot less clear .

Apreprintof a yet - to - be peer - reviewed newspaper publisher considers the case of CEERS-1749 . On one step we are get wind this wandflower as it was around 220 million years after the Big Bang . If so , it would not merely comfortably beat the record for the most distant galaxy , it would refute almost every theoretical account of early galaxy evolution ever found . wandflower this evolved just should n’t have formed that quickly . On the other hand , some other measures put CEERS-1749 so much close to us it would be unusual in an totally unlike fashion .

When it come up to research the early universe , the most of import measurement is z , the red shift . This measures how tight an object is proceed off from us , causing spectral lines to be shifted towards the lower end of the spectrum , just assirens vocalize deeperonce they pass us . The enlargement of the creation means the more redshifted a galaxy or star is , the more distant it is likely to be , and the further back in time we are insure it .

Before this year the record for highest redshift extragalactic nebula we had seenwas z=11 . soon after thefirst JWST releasea squad moderate byDr Rohan Naiduof the Harvard and Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics reported az=13 galax , afterward topped by a candidate atz=14 . Meanwhile , a recent composition exploring the most distant beetleweed visible enough to mensurate their metal content dealt withvalues around 8 .

Consequently , if the 0.6 − 5 µm photometry measure of CERES-1749 as have a red shift of z≈17 is correct , it is a very dramatic discovery indeed . On the other hand , CEERS-1749 has three apparent neighbors with z≈5 ( 12.5 billion years older ) . It ’s plausible it ’s in reality part of a cluster with this mathematical group , and the patent redshift more than three times nifty is an illusion . It ’s this uncertainty that has go Naidu and co - generator to label CERES-1749 “ Shrödinger ’s galaxy candidate ” , currently both the oldest coltsfoot know and billion of years younger .

Even if CEERS-1749 is part of the z=5 clump , it may still determine a dissimilar record . To look as it does at a z=5 space it must either be a Galax urceolata where virtuoso formation started , and then for the most part ceased , or a smaller one outstandingly thickset with debris ( a preprint by another team also proposes the minor and dusty scenario ) . In those cases ; “ It will be the high - red shift quiescent galax , or one of the lowest mass cold galaxies of the former Universe detected to date , ” Naidu and co - generator write . Either would also challenge be models of astronomical evolution , if not quite as deeply .

It ’s probably the second hypothesis that head Naidu to tweet crypticly :

Nine day later he sharedthe preprint . As a field of view , uranology has probably never moved as fast as in recent week .

If galaxies with red shift of 5 are impersonating something much older it would posture quite a challenge to cosmologist . However , the writer conclude : “ Such a perfectly disguised contamination is potential only in a narrow redshift windowpane ( ∆z < 0.1 ) . ” One carbon monoxide gas - authorcommentedit also requires specific scope filter combination , so is unconvincing to be a factor we have to worry about often .

“ spectroscopical follow - up of this remarkable coltsfoot is of decisive urging to JWST ’s commission of expand the cosmic frontier … if this source does lie at z ≈ 17 , we may embark on the grand initiative of revising the physics of galaxy development at the earliest epochs , ” the author save . Unfortunately , the human race ’s most valuable telescope time is not well-to-do to come by .

[ H / T : CNET ]