Missing-links-in-galaxy-evolution

[pinball1970]

I have put this general as this is an article not a published paper.

https://nasaspacenews.com/2026/02/missing-links-in-galaxy-evolution/

The line that jumped out was, "Researchers identified nearly 400 distant, dusty galaxies using the ALMA array in Chile. These massive structures formed just 700,000 years after the Big Bang, indicating stars formed earlier than predicted."

If they mean 700 million years that is not really big news as JWST has confirmed earlier. MoM-z14, Z=14.4 at 280 million years after the BB.

Surely not 7 million? Typo?

 

[.Scott]

There is a table in that article those shows "dusty faint" galaxies at "~700 million" "Years after Big Bang".
It's not big news, but it's 400 of them, not just a hand full.

 

[Bandersnatch]

What's important here, I think, is that they're dusty. That is, they're already evolved, having experienced enough bouts of star formation and death to enrich the environment.