Researchers just found an unexpected galaxy using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The large swirl of stars is known as a grand-design spiral galaxy, and its exceptionally advanced age could change what we know about galaxy formation.
Generally, the older a galaxy is, the farther away it is from us. Scientists can gauge the age and distance of galaxies through something called redshift — a phenomenon that occurs when light shifts to lower-frequency, redder wavelengths as it crosses large stretches of space. This happens for a couple of reasons; first, because the universe is expanding, older stars naturally end up further away. And second, because red is the longest wavelength in the visible spectrum of light, stars that are very far away tend to appear redder, having a higher redshift. JWST is designed to peer deeply into the red and infrared spectrum, allowing it to see old, distant galaxies more clearly than any previous telescope.
