JWST’s Quintet: Five-Galaxy Merger in the Early Universe

Using data from the James Webb Space Telescope, this episode explores a rare five-galaxy merger seen just 800 million years after the Big Bang. Known as JWST’s Quintet, the discovery shows galaxies forming stars and interacting far earlier and faster than expected.A surrounding oxygen halo reveals that these collisions were already spreading heavy elements into space, forcing astronomers to rethink how galaxies formed in the early universe.Thank you for listening to Bedtime Astronomy — your guide to the cosmos. New episodes on space exploration, NASA missions & the latest astronomy breakthroughs.This episode includes AI-generated content.