JWST Galaxies Push Cosmic Distance Record to 33.8 Billion Light-Years
Updated
Updated · Big Think · May 11
JWST Galaxies Push Cosmic Distance Record to 33.8 Billion Light-Years
2 articles · Updated · Big Think · May 11
33.8 billion light-years is the current galaxy distance record, reached by JWST discoveries culminating with MoM-z14 in 2025 after JADES-GS-z14-0 in 2024 and JADES-GS-z13-0 in 2022.
JWST extended a record galaxies already held, overtaking earlier Hubble-era leaders such as GN-z11 and EGSY8p7 that had reclaimed the mark from more distant transient events.
30 billion light-years had been reached by gamma-ray burst GRB 090423 in 2009, but galaxies regained the title and have kept it through successive deeper observations.
The new benchmark caps a centuries-long progression in observed cosmic reach, from naked-eye galaxies and 18th-century catalog entries to quasars, radio galaxies and now JWST's deepest detections.
JWST is finding shockingly mature galaxies at the dawn of time. Does this rewrite the story of the universe's first billion years?
How can an object be 33 billion light-years away if the universe is only 13.8 billion years old?
Why do our cosmic measurements disagree, and does this conflict point to a fundamental flaw in our understanding of the universe?