Milky Way's alleged twin galaxy discovered by James Webb telescope, fundamentally altering understanding of early universe.
Unveiling the Cosmic Twin: Zhúlóng, the Ancestral Spiral Galaxy
Who would've thought our galaxy's long-lost twin would show up among the cosmic stars? That's right; astronomers were quite thrilled when they stumbled upon Zhúlóng, a spiral galaxy that has striking resemblances to the Milky Way, yet it dates back more than 11 billion years into our cosmic past.
With the aid of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), astronomers managed to capture a glimpse of Zhúlóng when the universe was just one-fourteenth its current age, roughly 1 billion years after the Big Bang. This newly discovered spiral siren boasts an impressive frame,filled with a central bulge of old stars, a vibrant disk of freshly born stars, and two well-defined spiral arms. Given its jaw-dropping likeness to the Milky Way and its prodigious size, spatial explorers have lovingly christened this galaxy as the earliest Milky Way twin found thus far.
Now, you might be wondering just how similar this ancient galactic sibling is. Well, while Zhúlóng may be older, it's not too different from the Milky Way when it comes to features like shape, size, and mass. To put it into perspective, Zhúlóng is approximately 60,000 light-years in diameter, as opposed to our own galaxy's 100,000 light-year belt, and it packs around 100 billion solar masses as opposed to the Milky Way's 1.5 trillion. Still, Zhúlóng takes the cake as the largest Milky Way look-alike detected during such an early era in cosmic history.
Surprised by this celestial discovery? You're not alone. Just a brief year earlier, JWST discovered another spiral galaxy named Ceers-2112, making its appearance around 11.7 billion light-years away from our beloved home. However, Zhúlóng beats Ceers-2112 to the crown in terms of striking similarities to our Milky Way. So no, there was no need for a family reunion here; astronomers stumbled upon our galaxy's sibling in an unexpected way. They found Zhúlóng by pure chance during the PANORAMIC survey, JWST's wide-field exploration of billions of celestial objects using its unique "pure parallel" mode.
So, what does this mean for our understanding of the universe and its history? Well, it seems our best theories of cosmology are getting a run for their money, as Zhúlóng fittingly contradicts several theories about galaxy formation and evolution. This remarkable discovery invites us to reconsider our theories of how galaxies matured and evolved during the universe's infancy.
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Fun Facts:- Have you heard about Zhúlóng's siblings? Zhúlóng is part of a cluster of galaxies called SSA22-35, and it's not alone. The cluster also contains at least two more Milky Way-like galaxies.- Remember that gargantuan galaxy we discovered a while back? It exploded, creating an afterglow that we detected. Scientists are still trying to figure out just what caused this cosmic explosion.
[Check out these 42 breathtaking JWST images to see more of the universe’s secrets]
Sources:[1] U. Michigan News (2023) Astronomers discover early Milky Way twin galaxy[2] Science Daily (2023) The Dawn of Spiral Galaxies: Scientists Find First Milky Way Look-Alike in the Early Universe
Scientists are reconsidering their theories of galaxy formation and evolution with the discovery of Zhúlóng, an environmental-science wonder and an early twin of the Milky Way. In the field of space-and-astronomy, Zhúlóng, part of the SSA22-35 cluster, showcases features similar to our galaxy, also boasting technology advancements like the James Webb Space Telescope for its discovery.
