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THE mystery behind a strange speck of light first discovered by the Hubble telescope has been cracked.
Thanks to Nasa’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the object has been confirmed as an enormous galaxy.
NASA/Boyett et alThis small spec is actually said to be a huge galaxy called Gz9p3[/caption]
NASA/Boyett et alThe ancient galaxy is said to contain billions of stars[/caption]
The speck may look small on images but researchers now think it’s one of the largest galaxies from the early universe.
It’s called Gz9p3 which is said to have existed 510 million years after the Big Bang.
For context, the universe is now 13.8 billion years old.
The galaxy also helps to highlight the difference between the Hubble space telescope and the JWST.
What looked like a small speck to Hubble, can be seen in more detail by the JWST.
It’s thought that the Gz9p3 galaxy contains billions of stars.
The finding also suggests galaxies in the early universe grew much faster than first thought.
Kit Boyett, a scientist at the University of Melbourne, worked on the study.
“Just a couple of years ago, Gz9p3 appeared as a single point of light through the Hubble Space Telescope.
“But by using the James Webb Space Telescope we could observe this object as it was 510 million years after the Big Bang, around 13 billion years ago.
“We found Gz9p3 was far more massive and mature than expected for such a young Universe, already containing several billion stars,” he explained.
The James Webb Space Telescope is the most powerful telescope ever built.
It is technically looking back in time by scanning light given off by extremely distant galaxies and stars.
This ability to time travel is based on the fact that even light has a speed limit.
The further you peer into space, the more time has passed since the light you are looking at sets off on its journey towards you.
What is the Hubble Space Telescope?
Here’s what you need to know…
The Hubble Space Telescope is a telescope that captures images while in space
It was launched into a low-Earth orbit in 1990 and is still fully operational
The advantage of Hubble is that it takes photos from outside of Earth’s atmosphere
This means distortion from the atmosphere is removed, allowing for more accurate image capture
Nasa’s Hubble has captured some of most detailed images of space ever recorded
The Hubble telescope was also able to accurately determine the rate at which the universe was expanding
Hubble is also the only telescope that was designed to be serviced by astronauts in space
Five different missions have been launched to repair, upgrade or replace parts of the Hubble telescope
It’s believed that the Hubble telescope could continue working until 2040
But its successor – the James Webb Space Telescope – already launched in December 2021
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