JWST maps early cosmic web, illuminating Milky Way formation
Astronomers just used the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to map the cosmic web, basically, the universe's giant backbone made of dark matter and gas.
This new map lets us see galaxies as they were when the universe was just 1 billion years old.
It's a big deal for understanding how galaxies like our own Milky Way took shape.
COSMOS-Web traces galaxies in filaments
Thanks to JWST's sharper vision, scientists spotted fine structures that older telescopes like Hubble couldn't see.
The COSMOS-Web survey stretches back to when the universe was about 1 billion years old to around 1 billion light-years away, showing how galaxies grew up inside these cosmic filaments.
Published in The Astrophysical Journal, this work is changing what we know about our universe's history, one detailed image at a time.