In Odd Galaxy, NASA's Webb Finds Potential Missing Link to First Stars

Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, A. Cameron (University of Oxford)

What appears as a faint dot in this James Webb Space Telescope NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) image may actually be a groundbreaking discovery. Detailed information on galaxy GS-NDG-9422, captured by Webb鈥檚 NIRSpec (Near-Infrared Spectrograph) instrument, indicates that the light we see in this image is coming from the galaxy鈥檚 hot gas, rather than its stars. Astronomers think that the galaxy鈥檚 stars are so extremely hot (more than 140,000 degrees Fahrenheit, or 80,000 degrees Celsius) that they are heating up the nebular gas, allowing it to shine even brighter than the stars themselves.

« In Odd Galaxy, NASA's Webb Finds Potential Missing Link to First Stars

Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, L. Hustak (STScI)

The bottom graphic compares what astronomers would expect to see in a 鈥渢ypical鈥� galaxy, with its light coming predominantly from stars (white line), with a theoretical model of light coming from hot nebular gas, outshining stars (yellow line). There are clear similarities between the model and Webb's observations of galaxy GS-NDG-9422 (top). The unusual downturn of the galaxy鈥檚 spectrum, leading to an exaggerated spike in neutral hydrogen, is nearly a perfect match to the model of a spectrum dominated by super-heated gas.

« In Odd Galaxy, NASA's Webb Finds Potential Missing Link to First Stars

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