Webb Space Telescope discovers ancient complex organic molecules in rare galaxy.

The James Webb Space Telescope has detected complex organic molecules in a galaxy more than 12 billion light-years away, the most distant galaxy in which these molecules are now known to exist. The researchers used gravitational lensing to magnify the galaxy and differentiate between infrared signals generated by dust grains and those of the newly observed hydrocarbon molecules. The specific compound detected is a type of molecule called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, or PAH, which is considered the basic building blocks for the earliest forms of life. The findings provide critical insight into the complex chemical interactions that occur in the first galaxies in the early universe.