Scientific publications and announcements from NASA or other major space research organizations

James Webb Telescope Observes Zhúlóng, Most Distant Spiral Galaxy at 13.4 Billion Light-Years

Dec 31, 2024, 11:27 AM

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has identified the most distant fully-formed spiral galaxy ever observed, named Zhúlóng. Located approximately 13.4 billion light-years away, Zhúlóng is a grand-design spiral galaxy, featuring a distinct bulge, disk, and well-defined spiral arms. This discovery reveals that such complex structures existed as early as 1.13 billion years after the Big Bang. Zhúlóng has a mass comparable to the Milky Way, estimated at 100 billion solar masses, and exhibits a relatively low star formation rate of about 66 solar masses per year. Additionally, JWST has also imaged another massive spiral galaxy, A2744-GDSp-z4, weighing 14 billion solar masses, located in the Abell 2744 cluster. The findings underscore the capability of JWST to study the early universe and provide new insights into galaxy formation and evolution. The telescope's advanced technology, including gravitational lensing, has enabled astronomers to observe such distant objects with unprecedented clarity.