11:10:11 
2023-06-10 
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Astronomers have discovered the oldest known examples of complex organic molecules in the universe, according to a new study.
These chemicals are very similar to those found in smoke and soot on Earth, and are found inside an early galaxy that formed when the universe was about 10 percent of its current age, according to the study.
Scientists using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) found rings of a galaxy filled with cosmic smoke, more than 12 billion light-years from Earth.
However, far from being a sign of intergalactic pollution, scientists believe this discovery could help to understand how stars formed in the very early stages of the universe.
Because this galaxy is so far away, the light from its rings had been traveling for billions of years by the time it reached the James Webb telescope.
This allowed scientists to observe the galaxy known as SPT0418-47 as it was when the universe was only 1.5 billion years old after the Big Bang, about 10% of its current age (the universe is currently about 13.8 billion years old).
"The molecules we found are not simple things like water or carbon dioxide," lead author of the study Justin Spilker, an astronomer at Texas A&M University, told Space.com. "We're talking about large, flexible molecules with dozens or hundreds of atoms in them."
These complex organic molecules are common in space, where they are often associated with fine dust grains. Astronomers are investigating them because they can help reveal key details of activity within galaxies. However, detecting these particles in very distant galaxies that formed when the universe was relatively young has been difficult, because telescopes were limited in their sensitivity and the number of wavelengths of light they detected.
Now, using the James Webb Space Telescope, Spilker and his colleagues have detected these particles in the galaxy SPT0418-47, which bears distinctive features that have led scientists to dub it the "Milky Way's twin" due to its similarity with our galaxy.
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