NASA has discovered a new galaxy! We keep finding out new information about the unknown of the space thanks to NASA and its advanced technology. Scientists, with the help of a very special telescope, were able to achieve their study on affirming the existence of distant galaxies. Let’s see the importance of this new galaxy and what this discovery means in the scientific field.
NASA’s new discovery
You may not believe it, but NASA has discovered a new but ancient galaxy. How is that possible? The concrete galaxy’s name is MoM-z14 which has existed since more than 13,500 million years ago, in the early period of the universe – the Big Bang.
This galaxy is very bright and its light comes from the stars, which probably means it has huge stars that only existed when the universe was very new. Scientists found more nitrogen than carbon, leading to clues about the type of stars that used to be there and they were created.
This galaxy connects the present with the past. You might think this is nuts, but let’s keep explaining this discovery.
The Big Bang Theory is not only a tv series
This is the theory that explains the origin of the universe.Roughly speaking, it talks about how everything we know now, space, time, energy and so on started in a small point around 13.8 billion years ago and it expanded creating what we know now as the universe.
A new, but also ancient galaxy
First of all, we need to know that the MoM-z14 is coming from the past. The universe works in a way that the furthest a galaxy is, the slower the light this galaxy produces towards us will travel. We can be talking about billions of years until that light reaches us. So, that’s why it is a new but ancient discovery because it is new for us, but ancient because what we are seeing is a galaxy from the past.
NASA and its tools
This discovery was possible thanks to the technology NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) has, mainly the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). This is a very interesting scientific tool that NASA has developed and it is capable of capturing things other telescopes can’t, due to the infrared light it has used to see what the human eye cannot. Also, this telescope is able to capture way more light than others. This combination makes the perfect tool to see things far far away and ancient.
Astronomers future studies thanks to MoM-z14
Every discovery leads the way to new other unknown things. The MoM-z14 galaxy is going to be one of those, very helpful for astronomers since they are learning how the first galaxies were created and how ancient and new stars are connected, and finding out there are numerous galaxies similar to the MoM-z14 out there.
Is there anything coming up next?
Well, certainly. NASA never stops launching missions or studying new possible aspects to focus on and learn more about. For now, scientists are willing to develop another telescope, the Roman Space Telescope.
2027 is the set date for the beginning of this new telescope and you may think that the James Webb Space Telescope will be obsolete for these types of research, but you are so wrong. Both telescopes will complete each other with their own information. That’s teamwork!
Aren’t you fascinated with the amount of possibilities there are out in space? NASA is something we could use to be more informed and closer to what’s out there. Discoveries will be endless because a new discovery translates into many more to come.