The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has detected organic molecules for the first time in a distant galaxy whose light has been traveling to Earth for 12 billion years. The discovery is reported in an article published in the journal Nature.

An international team of astronomers led by scientists from the University of Illinois made observations of the galaxy SPT0418-47, which, due to its huge distance to it, looks as if the age of the universe was less than 1.5 billion years. It is clearly visible due to the phenomenon of gravitational lensing, when a large object (for example, a massive galaxy close to us) bends and amplifies light from a background object. In this case, lensing enlarges SPT0418-47 by about 30-35 times, but bends it in the form of the so-called Einstein ring.

SPT0418-47, first discovered by the National Science Foundation's South Pole Telescope, is shrouded in cosmic dust and therefore only visible in the infrared spectrum, as the large particles absorb ultraviolet radiation from stars and emit energy in the form of infrared electromagnetic waves. Given the galaxy's remoteness, it is nearly impossible to observe with ground-based instruments, which are unable to discern the stars in the dust cloud.

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Spectroscopic data obtained by JWST show that the interstellar gas in SPT0418-47 is enriched in heavy elements. This means that several generations of stars managed to change, since the very first stars could initially consist only of hydrogen and helium, but gradually produced heavier elements either as a result of thermonuclear reactions in the depths or as a result of supernova explosions.

As the authors note, the high sensitivity of the JWST makes it possible to observe the atomic and molecular composition of distant galaxies, providing scientists with information about their formation, life cycle and development. So, in the infrared spectrum of the galaxy, features were noticed that indicate the existence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The total light re-emitted by PAH molecules corresponds to the predominance of star formation (rather than accretion around black holes) in the infrared emission of the entire galaxy.

In addition, the light from PAH molecules, hot dust, and large dust grains and stars differs spatially. This indicates either that small and large dust grains are not located together inside the galaxy, or that there are large variations in the heating of dust grains by local UV radiation. Further observations with the JWST should help answer the question of whether such spatial shifts are a common feature of high redshift galaxies.