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4d ago

JWST Confirms MoM‑z14, Most Distant Galaxy Yet, at Redshift 14.44

An unusual mix of extreme brightness, compactness, nitrogen emission challenges standard timelines for early enrichment.

Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Rohan Naidu (MIT); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)
Image
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope shows galaxy MoM-z14 as it appeared in the distant past, only 280 million years after the universe began in the big bang. Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Rohan Naidu (MIT); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)

Overview

  • JWST’s NIRSpec/PRISM spectroscopy secures MoM‑z14 at z_spec = 14.44, placing its light about 280 million years after the Big Bang and setting a new distance record.
  • The redshift is anchored by a sharp Lyman‑alpha break with roughly 3σ detections of five rest‑UV emission lines, providing a robust spectroscopic confirmation.
  • MoM‑z14 is luminous (M_UV ≈ −20.2), extremely compact (effective radius ~74 pc) and elongated, with a steep UV slope (β ≈ −2.5) indicating little dust and no dominant AGN.
  • Strong nitrogen features with highly super‑solar [N/C] > 1 suggest rapid chemical enrichment reminiscent of patterns in globular clusters, though interpretations remain preliminary.
  • The MoM survey infers a number density of bright z ~ 14–15 galaxies over 100× higher than pre‑JWST models, and the spectrum’s lack of a strong damping wing hints at a locally ionized region during reionization, motivating further JWST follow‑up and wider samples from the upcoming Roman telescope.