NASA's James Webb Telescope spots earliest galaxy ever seen, pushing boundaries of observable universe

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has once again pushed the boundaries of the observable universe, confirming the existence of a bright galaxy that existed just 280 million years after the Big Bang. The galaxy, named MoM-z14, is described as the farthest and earliest galaxy observed, with its light travelling through expanding space for approximately 13.5 billion years.

"Meet our current record holder for farthest galaxy ever seen (so far!!) MoM-z14 may look like a little yellow smudge here, but it's our first view of a galaxy that existed just 280 million years after the big bang!" NASA Webb Telescope wrote in a post on X.

Meet

our current record holder for farthest galaxy ever seen (so far!!)

MoM-z14 may look like a little yellow smudge here, but it's our first view of a galaxy that existed just 280 million years after the big bang!https://t.co/RseTsVfbLm

pic.twitter.com/usu1BUIp6U

— NASA Webb Telescope (@NASAWebb) January 28, 2026

MoM-z14 is part of a growing group of surprisinglybright galaxies in the early universe, with 100 times more galaxies observed than theoretical studies predicted before Webb's launch.

The galaxy's discovery has sparked intriguing questions about the universe's historical timeline and the differences between the early universe and today's cosmos.

"We can estimate the distance of galaxies from images, but it's really important to follow up and confirm with more detailed spectroscopy so that we know exactly what we are seeing, and when," according to Pascal Oesch of the University of Geneva, who is the co-principal investigator of the survey.

Its discovery reveals a ‘growing chasm’ between theoretical models and actual observations of the early universe.

Jacob Shen, a postdoctoral researcher at MIT and a member of the research team, said, “There is a growing chasm between theory and observation related to the early universe, which presents compelling questions to be explored going forward.”

MoM-z14 exhibits unusual features, including high amounts of nitrogen, which is also seen in some Webb observations of early galaxies.

‘We can take a page from archaeology and look at these ancient stars in our own galaxy like fossils from the early universe, except in astronomy, we are lucky enough to have Webb seeing so far that we also have direct information about galaxies during that time. It turns out, we are seeing some of the same features, like this unusual nitrogen enrichment,” said Rohan Naidu of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research.

According to NASA, one theory suggests that the dense environment of the early cosmos resulted in supermassive stars capable of creating more nitrogen than any stars seen in the local universe.

The galaxy MoM-z14 shows evidence of clearing the dense, early universe hydrogen fog in its vicinity.

TheJames Webb Space Telescope was designed to define this clearing period when early stars produced high-energy light to break through the dense hydrogen gas of the early universe and begin travelling through space.

“Galaxy MoM-z14 provides another clue for mapping out the timeline of reionisation, work that was not possible until Webb lifted the veil on this era of the universe,” NASA said.

As Webb continues to uncover more unexpectedly luminous galaxies, astronomers eagerly anticipate the upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, which will boost the sample of these early galaxies into the thousands.

"To figure out what is going on in the early universe, we really need more information —more detailed observations with Webb, and more galaxies to see where the common features are, which Roman will be able to provide," according to Yijia Li, a graduate student at Pennsylvania State University.