Unveiling Zhúlóng: The Most Distant ‘Twin’ of Our Milky Way Discovered by James Webb Space Telescope!

Astronomers have made an exciting discovery: the most distant spiral galaxy ever spotted, using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). This galaxy, named Zhúlóng, formed just 1 billion years after the Big Bang. This finding challenges what we thought we understood about how galaxies develop.

Up until now, experts believed that galaxies like the Milky Way took billions of years to develop their distinctive features, such as spiral arms and organized star clusters. However, Zhúlóng shows these characteristics much earlier than expected. Its light took 12.8 billion years to reach us, revealing a surprisingly mature structure instead of a chaotic blob.

The name Zhúlóng translates to "Torch Dragon" in Chinese mythology. According to team leader Mengyuan Xiao from the University of Geneva, Zhúlóng is reminiscent of the Milky Way in its shape and size. The galaxy has a stellar disk measuring about 60,000 light-years and a mass 100 billion times that of our Sun. For comparison, the Milky Way’s disk spans roughly 100,000 light-years and holds about 46 billion solar masses.

Zhúlóng was discovered while JWST conducted its ANORAMIC survey, a large-scale project led by Christina Williams and others designed to capture images of the sky efficiently. This technique allows the telescope to simultaneously gather details from multiple targets, making it easier to find rare and distant galaxies. Williams noted that this discovery showcases the value of these expansive surveys in advancing our understanding of galaxy formation.

In the future, scientists plan to use the JWST alongside the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA), a network of powerful radio telescopes in Chile, to study Zhúlóng further. This collaborative approach might help explain how this structured spiral galaxy formed in the early universe. "This discovery changes how we view the early universe," said researcher Oesch.

According to recent data, the JWST has made numerous groundbreaking discoveries since its launch, including identifying exoplanets and observing them in unprecedented detail. Such findings contribute to an ever-evolving understanding of cosmic history.

This new galaxy discovery highlights the advancements in astrophysics, reshaping our theories of how galaxies evolve. It also ignites excitement about what else might be waiting in the universe, pushing researchers to explore further into the mysteries of space.

For more detailed information about this discovery, you can check the full research published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.

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