The cosmos never ceases to amaze us with each discovery. Just when we thought we understood how it behaved, a new doubt or modification arises that turns everything upside down. This is the case with the new discovery made with the James Webb Telescope, the galaxy MoM-z14. It is a galaxy that was born 280 million years after the Big Bang, which traveled with its photons for 13.5 billion years. Its light was detected in April 2025, and spectroscopic analyses confirmed the highest redshift ever recorded, at 14.44. Its characteristics are surprising, such as its origin from the primitive universe and its mass comparable to that of the Small Magellanic Cloud.
Moreover, its stellar formation is surprising, having increased by up to 10 times in recent years. Until the creation of the JWST, the cosmological model followed by experts predicted that the formation of such large and bright galaxies would take millions of years. MoM-z14 has changed the landscape, as it leads researchers to believe that the space telescope may have already detected ‘small red galaxies’ earlier, indicating a faster organization of the universe.
Another notable characteristic is that the light from this galaxy was pushed from ultraviolet to infrared as the universe expanded, which could only be detected by the JWST. It is undeniable that the evolution of the universe still holds many secrets and that, despite all that has been discovered so far, many of those theories and beliefs will have to be revisited sooner or later.
James Webb Telescope
A collaboration between 14 countries gave rise to the James Webb Space Telescope. It is a space observatory built and operated jointly by the European Space Agency, the Canadian Space Agency, and NASA to replace the Hubble and Spitzer telescopes. It was launched into orbit on December 25, 2021, and since then, it has revealed numerous data of interest to researchers. Its mission, as described on its official website, is to study all phases of the history of the universe, from the Big Bang to the formation of solar systems capable of hosting life on planets like Earth. Unlike the Hubble Space Telescope, the James Webb orbits around the Sun, not around the Earth.
MoM-z14 Galaxy
In April 2025, the James Webb Telescope detected a light that it could not identify. After a spectroscopic analysis, it was determined that it was the highest redshift ever recorded, at 14.44. What was it? It was a small galaxy formed 280 million years after the Big Bang, which traveled 13.5 billion years through space along with its photons. It is an object that already existed when the universe was only 2% of its current age.
Its small size was striking, but its brightness was remarkable. In short, it is MoM-z14, a compact galaxy 500 light-years in diameter and a mass comparable to that of the Small Magellanic Cloud. How is it possible that there is no presence of black holes and it shines with such intensity? Because it is in the midst of an explosion of star formation.
Special features
There are many characteristics that make this discovery special and unique. One of them is the result of the spectral analysis of the galaxy: the stars had already been born, died, and enriched with heavy elements, which means that the galaxy has already seen several generations of stars pass through it. This overturns everything scientists believed they knew until now, as it has been discovered that the stellar production of MoM-z14 has increased tenfold in the last 4 million years.
What does all this mean? It is more than likely that the James Webb telescope has already detected ‘small red galaxies’ previously, indicating that the universe organized itself at a faster rate than expected. Another aspect that raises questions is that the environment of MoM-z14 is free of neutral gas from the early universe, meaning it is reionized. How is this possible? Now it only remains for the scientists to study and investigate this phenomenon, being forced to rethink everything they thought they knew until now.
Other discoveries of the James Webb Telescope.
