The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has dramatically changed the landscape of astronomical observation since its launch in July 2022. It surpassed Hubble's distant galaxy discoveries, with the current record-holder MoM-z14 now known to emit light from just 280 million years after the Big Bang. Despite these advancements, the search for the first stars, or population III stars, continues to be challenging, with no compelling signatures found so far. Technological innovations and new telescope concepts may finally enable scientists to detect these elusive early stars.
As of the end of May, 2025, GN-z11 is now just the 14th most distant galaxy known, with the light from current record-holder MoM-z14 coming from just 280 million years after the Big Bang.
Despite extensive searches, any signature of the first stars remains elusive, with strong reasons suggesting they are beyond the capabilities of any existing telescope, even JWST.
The success of JWST in discovering more distant galaxies, like MoM-z14, illustrates its superiority over Hubble due to its larger aperture, colder temperatures, and longer wavelength sensitivity.
There are two possible technological developments and two novel telescope ideas that could bring the elusive signatures of the first stars within our reach.
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