JWST Spots Nine Cosmic Platypuses That Defy Classification

Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have identified nine compact, point-like objects at redshifts 3.6–5.4 whose properties don’t fit neatly into stars, galaxies, quasars, or standard AGNs. They display narrow emission lines, lack resolvable host galaxies, and their light profiles differ from a true point source by about 10–20%, raising the possibility of a new class of objects—perhaps low-luminosity, hostless AGNs or unusual young galaxies—though their exact nature remains unclear pending deeper imaging and broader wavelength data. The discovery is framed as the cosmic equivalent of a platypus.