Problem?

[Jimmy]

The James Webb telescope identified 6 galaxies that were fully formed only 500 million years after the Big Bang. The video I watched said that this is a problem for scientists. What does that mean?

 

[Stevicus]

I found this article on the subject:

https://www.npr.org/2023/02/22/1158793897/webb-telescope-huge-early-galaxies-big-bang

Doesn't seem a huge problem, though it seems they were surprised by the discovery.

"We were mind-blown, kind of incredulous," Labbe said.

The Pennsylvania State University's Joel Leja, who took part in the study, calls them "universe breakers."

"The revelation that massive galaxy formation began extremely early in the history of the universe upends what many of us had thought was settled science," Leja said in a statement. "It turns out we found something so unexpected it actually creates problems for science. It calls the whole picture of early galaxy formation into question."

These galaxy observations were among the first data set that came from the $10 billion Webb telescope, launched just over a year ago. NASA and the European Space Agency's Webb is considered the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, coming up on the 33rd anniversary of its launch.

While some may prove to be smaller, "odds are good at least some of them will turn out to be" galactic giants, Labbe said. "The next year will tell us."

One early lesson from Webb is "to let go of your expectations and be ready to be surprised," he said.

"Be ready to be surprised." That's what makes science so exciting, I guess.

 

[Ponder This]

The James Webb telescope identified 6 galaxies that were fully formed only 500 million years after the Big Bang. The video I watched said that this is a problem for scientists. What does that mean?

It means that scientists are not omniscient.

 

[Jimmy]

It means that scientists are not omniscient.

I gathered that

 

[Friend of Mara]

The James Webb telescope identified 6 galaxies that were fully formed only 500 million years after the Big Bang. The video I watched said that this is a problem for scientists. What does that mean?

The long answer is because the people who report on science are not the scientists. They prioritize having catchy titles or provocative phrases to get people to go "ooh well lets find out what this is" at 3 am. Works really well on me ngl.

 

[Heyo]

The James Webb telescope identified 6 galaxies that were fully formed only 500 million years after the Big Bang. The video I watched said that this is a problem for scientists. What does that mean?

The "problem" is that that discovery doesn't fit into current theories of the formation of galaxies.
Scientists love problems. It's their bread and butter to solve problems. The solution to the problem will be a better theory of galaxy formation that explains why these galaxies exist.