Astronomers thought that galaxies in the early universe would mostly be shapeless blobs, but an analysis of data from the James Webb Space Telescope suggests around half are disc-shaped like the Milky Way
The shape of many galaxies in JWST’s deep-field image is surprising astronomers
NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI
Astronomers analysing some of the first scientific data released by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have already seen something they weren’t expecting. A deep view of the early universe appears to show a surprisingly high number of disc-shaped galaxies, rather than a large number of clumpy, irregular ones. This suggests that the disc structures in certain galaxies, including the Milky Way, may have formed more rapidly than current theories predict.
Leonardo Ferreira at the University of …