IT之家 4 月 16 日消息，由瑞士日內瓦大學領導的國際天文學團隊藉助詹姆斯・韋布空間望遠鏡（JWST）數據，發現了迄今最遙遠、最古老的螺旋星系並將其命名為 "燭龍"。

The research team includes a postdoctoral researcher from China, Xiao Mengyuan (pronounced yuàn), who is also the lead author of the paper; It also includes scholars such as Xhristina Williams and Pascal Oesch.

The "candle dragon" has a mature structure similar to that of the Milky Way, so it is also called the "twin galaxy" of the Milky Way. The relevant research results have been published in Astronomy and Astrophysics on 16/0 local timeDOI:202453487.0/0-0/0）。

Xiao Mengyuan said that the "candle dragon" is different because it is very similar to our Milky Way galaxy in shape, size and stellar quality.

據介紹，這個銀河系的“孿生兄弟”在宇宙大爆炸後僅僅 10 億年就存在了，這對之前的星系演化理論提出了挑戰。而且它是如此遙遠，以至於它的光線需要 128 億年才能到達我們這裡。

數據顯示，它擁有著直徑超 6 萬光年的恆星盤（銀河系約 10 萬光年）、中心古老核球、活躍恆星形成區及清晰旋臂結構，質量相當於太陽的 1000 億倍（銀河系品質約 460 億倍），紅移 5.2。此前理論認為螺旋結構需數十億年才能形成，此次發現將成熟星系存在時間前推至宇宙早期。

ACCORDING TO REPORTS, THE "CANDLE DRAGON" WAS DISCOVERED BY ACCIDENT DURING JWST'S PANORAMIC SKY SURVEY PROGRAM (GO-2514). The research team used the telescope's "pure parallel" observation mode to perform wide-area scanning between the working hours of the main instruments, increasing the probability of discovering rare objects.

Christina Williams, an astronomer at NOIRLab and co-lead of the project, noted: "This model is essential for the discovery of rare megagalaxies in the early universe by effectively mapping large celestial regions. "