James Webb Space Telescope Image MACS0647-JD Galaxy
NASA/ESA/CSA The James Webb Space Telescope has observed MACS0647-JD. Astronomers believe that MACS0647-JD is the most distant galaxy in the universe.
MACS0647-JD is much smaller than our Milky Way Galaxy. But it is important because, according to scientists, MACS0647-JD gives a glimpse of the early universe.
According to astronomers, the distance between galaxies is increasing, due to which this universe is also continuously expanding. This can reveal the expansion and size of the universe.
MACS0647-JD is a galaxy with a redshift of about z = 10.7, which is about 13.3 billion light years away from our Earth, while the universe is only 13.7 billion years old.
If the distance estimate of MACS0647-JD is correct, it formed about 427 million years after the Big Bang.
MACS0647-JD is less than 600 light-years wide, and contains about a billion stars (whereas our Milky Way Galaxy extends over 150,000 light-years).
MACS0647-JD was first discovered by the Hubble Telescope nearly a decade ago. At the time, it was potentially furthest at redshift 11, about 97 percent of the way to the Big Bang.
See a close-up view of the MACS0647-JD on the right. The Hubble Telescope showed just one object, but James Webb is showing two objects.
Are they two galaxies merging? Or are there two clusters of stars within galaxies? We don't know yet, but James Webb can help us find out.