# @europeanspaceagency on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/C_a6AEutADu
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/35585015-europeanspaceagency-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/f64313ed05.jpg
- **Posted:** 2024-09-02T15:50:00.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** J.L.Lopez (@xandler80) — https://gondola.cc/xandler80

## Caption

Webb’s little red dots mystery 🌌

When astronomers first gazed into the depths of the early Universe using @esawebb, they were stunned to find galaxies that seemed more like cosmic bodybuilders than the fragile beginnings they expected. But thanks to new insights from Webb’s CEERS survey, we now know that some of these “massive” galaxies are actually deceiving us!

The galaxies that appeared overly massive likely host black holes rapidly consuming gas. Friction in the fast-moving gas emits heat and light, making these galaxies much brighter than they would be if that light emanated just from stars. This extra light can make it appear that the galaxies contain many more stars, and hence are more massive, than we would otherwise estimate. When scientists remove these galaxies, dubbed “little red dots” (based on their red color and small size), from the analysis, the remaining early galaxies are not too massive to fit within predictions of the standard model.

However, there are still roughly twice as many massive galaxies in Webb’s data of the early Universe than expected from the standard model. One possible reason might be that stars formed more quickly in the early Universe than they do today. Star formation happens when hot gas cools enough to succumb to gravity and condense into one or more stars. But as the gas contracts, it heats up, generating outward pressure. In our region of the Universe, the balance of these opposing forces tends to make the star formation process very slow. But perhaps, according to some theories, because the early Universe was denser than today, it was harder to blow gas out during star formation, allowing the process to go faster.

📸 @NASA, @europeanspaceagency, @canadianspaceagency, Steve Finkelstein (@utaustintx); @creativecommons CC BY 4.0

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 18,425
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- **Comments:** 39

## Credits

These are the roles credited on Gondola. Credits may be incomplete.
A brand, account owner, or featured person is not necessarily the creator.

| Name | Username | Profile | Role |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| ESA - European Space Agency | @europeanspaceagency | https://gondola.cc/europeanspaceagency | Government Organization |
| J.L.Lopez | @xandler80 | https://gondola.cc/xandler80 | Producer |
| J.L.Lopez | @xandler80 | https://gondola.cc/xandler80 | Editor |
| J.L.Lopez | @xandler80 | https://gondola.cc/xandler80 | Social Media Manager |
| J.L.Lopez | @xandler80 | https://gondola.cc/xandler80 | Publisher |
| J.L.Lopez | @xandler80 | https://gondola.cc/xandler80 | Copywriter |
| J.L.Lopez | @xandler80 | https://gondola.cc/xandler80 | Community Manager |

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