'Finding three such massive beasts among the sample poses a tantalizing puzzle', said Stjn Wuyts, study co-author and Hiroko Sherwin Chair in Extragalactic Astronomy at the University of Bath. 'Many processes in galaxy evolution have a tendency to introduce a rate-limiting step in how efficiently gas can convert into stars, yet somehow these Red Monsters appear to have swiftly evaded most of these hurdles,' he added.
This isn't the first time that JWST has spotted 'impossibly large' ancient galaxies, as these three are just the latest in a series of discoveries that have forced astronomers to question their understanding of how early galaxies formed.
Under the most widely accepted cosmological model - Lambda Cold Dark Matter (LCDM) model - these 'Red Monster' galaxies shouldn't exist. LCDM posits that the first galaxies that formed in the universe did not have enough time to become as massive as these newly discovered galaxies appear to be.
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