Thursday, December 18, 2025

The JWST Found A Jekyll-and-Hyde Galaxy In The Early Universe

The JWST examined a puzzling a galaxy from when the Universe was only about 800 million years old. When observed in visible and UV light, it appears much like any other galaxy. But in infrared, the JWST can see its supermassive black hole, which is accreting massive amounts of matter and emitting extreme radiation. Image Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, G. Östlin, P. G. Perez-Gonzalez, J. Melinder, the JADES Collaboration, M. Zamani (ESA/Webb)

In a glimpse of the early universe, astronomers have observed a galaxy as it appeared just 800 million years after the Big Bang – a cosmic Jekyll and Hyde that looks like any other galaxy when viewed in visible and even ultraviolet light but transforms into a cosmic beast when observed at infrared wavelengths. This object, dubbed Virgil, is forcing astronomers to reconsider their understanding of how supermassive black holes grew in the infant universe.



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