"Galactic Mergers: Unraveling the Early Universe's Mystery"
The James Webb Space Telescope has used its NIRCam instrument to reveal that the mysterious hydrogen emission from the earliest galaxies in the universe is due to the chaotic merging of neighboring galaxies. This discovery solves a long-standing mystery in astronomy and sheds light on the intense star-forming activity within interacting galaxies, which energizes hydrogen emission and clears gas from their surroundings, allowing the unexpected hydrogen emission to escape. The findings, published in Nature Astronomy, provide a compelling solution to the puzzle of the inexplicable early hydrogen emission and will improve our understanding of galaxy evolution.