Astronomy Picture Of The Day: Galaxies formed less than one billion years after the Big Bang reveal unexpectedly high abundances of heavy elements!!!

 

#NASA, #Space, #astronomy, #διάστημα, #JamesWebbspaceT

Black Hole@konstructivizm

James Webb Space Telescope spectra of galaxies formed less than one billion years after the Big Bang reveal unexpectedly high abundances of heavy elements such as oxygen, carbon, and nitrogen. These elements are produced inside stars and spread by supernova explosions, meaning intense stellar generations must have already lived and died very early in cosmic history. This challenges long-standing models that predicted slow, gradual chemical enrichment. Instead, Webb’s data suggest that early galaxies experienced rapid, efficient star formation and recycling of material. Some systems show metallicities comparable to much later galaxies, despite existing in a universe that was still in its infancy. The result reshapes timelines for galaxy evolution, star formation, and the emergence of complex chemistry. It also affects how astronomers interpret the first planetary building blocks, since heavy elements are essential for rocky worlds. Webb’s findings show that the universe became chemically sophisticated far earlier than previously assumed, accelerating the path toward complex cosmic structures. Source NASA, James Webb Space Telescope, Nature Astronomy,