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The most distant quasars known, at redshifts z ≈ 6, generally have the same properties as lower-redshift quasars, implying that although the Universe was young at z ≈ 6, such quasars are still evolved objects. One z ≈ 6 quasar was shown to have no detectable emission from hot dust, but it was not clear whether it was an outlier. Now, a second quasar without hot-dust emission has been discovered in a sample of 21 z ≈ 6 quasars. Moreover, hot-dust abundance in these quasars builds up as the central black hole grows.

The authors report the photometric detection of the distant spectroscopically confirmed galaxy JADES-GS-z14-0 at z > 14 with JWST/MIRI. The inferred properties suggest rapid mass assembly and metal enrichment during the earliest phases of galaxy formation.

Using JWST, more than 40 individual stars have been detected in a distant galaxy, dating back to when the Universe was only half of its current age. The stars appear to be red (super)giants that are magnified by factors of hundreds.

Analysis of the JWST/NIRSpec spectrum of the recently observed Lyman-break galaxy JADES-GS+53.15508-27.80178 revealed a redshift of z = 7.3, a Balmer break and a complete absence of nebular emission lines, indicating that quenching occurred only 700 million years after the Big Bang.

Evidence is found for a distant galaxy growing inside-out within the first 700 million years of the Universe. The galaxy has a dense central core comparable in mass density to local massive ellipticals, and an extended star-forming disc.

JWST–NIRSpec spectroscopic confirmation of two luminous galaxies is presented, proving that luminous galaxies were already in place 300 million years after the Big Bang and are more common than what was expected before JWST.

As part of the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES), NIRSpec has spectroscopically confirmed four young and metal-poor galaxies at redshift 10.3–13.2, from an early epoch of galaxy formation.

An extensive analysis of the JWST-NIRSpec spectrum of GN-z11 shows a supermassive black hole of a few million solar masses in a galaxy 440 million years after the Big Bang.

An (ultraviolet) dust attenuation feature at 2,175 Å, attributed to carbonaceous dust grains in the Milky Way and nearby galaxies, also exists in galaxies up to a redshift of 7.

Seventeen molecular clouds are identified in a Milky Way progenitor at z = 1.036, with higher masses, surface densities and supersonic turbulence than present-day analogues. Their properties reflect the hostile ambient interstellar conditions prevalent in distant galaxies and suggest they formed by fragmentation of a turbulent galactic gas disk.

The detection of three ultraviolet emission lines from GN-z11 can be interpreted as the [C iii] λ1907, C iii] λ1909 doublet and O iii] λ1666 at z = 10.957 ± 0.001, confirming GN-z11 as the most distant galaxy known to date and revealing the properties of its dense ionized gas.

A peculiar near-infrared transient with an observed duration shorter than 245 s, coincident with the luminous star-forming galaxy GN-z11 at z ≈ 11, might have arisen from a rest-frame ultraviolet flash associated with a long gamma-ray burst in GN-z11.