✅ A long time ago ✅ Far, far away Webb researchers found two galaxies that check both of these boxes — including one which may contain the most distant starlight ever seen. These two unexpectedly bright galaxies could fundamentally alter what we know about the very first stars. The galaxies are thought to have existed 350 and 450 million years after the big bang, respectively (swipe to see both). Unlike our Milky Way, these first galaxies are small and compact, with spherical or disk shapes rather than grand spirals. Webb’s new findings suggest that the galaxies would have had to begin coming together about 100 million years after the big bang — meaning that the first stars might have started forming in such galaxies around that time, much earlier than expected. Follow-up observations with Webb’s spectrographs will confirm the distances of these primordial galaxies and help us learn more about the earliest stars. More at the link in our bio! Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Tommaso Treu (UCLA) Image descriptions: 1. Countless glowing galaxies of all shapes and sizes speckling the black backdrop of space. Some are spiral, some more disk-shaped and others spherical. Farther galaxies are only seen as dots. Their colors include blue, pink, orange, and white. Towards the center left, a red dot of a galaxy, along with some surrounding streaks, are framed in a tiny white box. This box is attached to a close-up view in a much larger inset box. The red dot is a never-before-seen galaxy discovered by Webb, thought to have existed 350 million years after the big bang. 2. A similar view as the first image, but differentiated by large, bright white stars with long diffraction spikes that are seen among the numerous multi-color galaxies. Towards the bottom left, a small reddish disk is framed in a tiny white box. This box is attached to a close-up view in a much larger inset box. The red disk is another early galaxy, thought to have existed 450 million years after the big bang. #JWST #JamesWebbSpaceTelescope #NASA #Galaxy #Space #Star #NASAWebb