What if a galaxy’s gas could outshine its stars? 🌌 Astronomers using @esawebb have uncovered something truly extraordinary – a galaxy with a unique light signature, where gas outshines its stars! Discovered just 1 billion years after the Big Bang, galaxy GS-NDG-9422 could hold the key to understanding the mysterious transition from the Universe’s first stars to the galaxies we know today. These stars are believed to be much hotter and more massive than those we see in the local Universe – some burning at a scorching 80 000°C! Astronomers suspect that 9422 is undergoing a rapid phase of star formation inside a dense gas cloud, producing massive stars that illuminate the gas around them. Could this be a glimpse into the conditions of the Universe’s earliest stars? Although 9422 doesn’t host the first generation of stars, its unusual features may provide crucial insights into how galaxies evolved during the first billion years after the Big Bang. The search is just beginning – more ...