JWST Spots MoM-z14, the Universe’s Oldest Galaxy Yet (280 Million Years After the Big Bang)

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope confirmed MoM-z14 as the most distant spectroscopically confirmed galaxy to date, seen as it emitted light about 280 million years after the Big Bang (redshift z=14.44). The galaxy is compact (roughly 240 light-years across) with a mass similar to the Small Magellanic Cloud, and shows rapid star formation and nitrogen-rich composition, suggesting early, globular-cluster–like stellar activity. The finding, first reported in a 2025 preprint and later peer‑reviewed in early 2026, challenges existing models of early galaxy formation and signals more discoveries to come, including with the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.