Scientists discover ‘Red Monster’ galaxies nearly the size of Milky Way

Give them a constellation prize.

A group of international scientists discovered three ultra-massive “Red Monster” galaxies capable of forming their own stars faster than the average nebula.

The galaxies earned their nickname, “Red Monsters,” because they each look like a blazing red splotch, which is a result of their extreme amounts of dust.

They are each more than 12.8 billion years old and carry 100 billion times the mass of Earth’s sun.

Three massive galaxies dubbed the “Red Monsters” were discovered by a coalition of international scientists using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. NASA/CSA/ESA, M. Xiao & P. A. Oesch (University of Geneva), G. Brammer (Niels Bohr Institute), Dawn JWST Archive

The astronomers were able to see the galaxies using the NASA James Webb Space Telescope and were baffled by their sizes, which nearly rival the Milky Way.

The galaxies’ star formation ability shatters the scientists’ expectations. It is more efficient than other nebulas from the same epoch, converting nearly 80% of its gas into stars and far surpassing average galaxies in cosmic history.

“Many processes in galaxy evolution have a tendency to introduce a rate-limiting step in how efficiently gas can convert into stars, yet somehow these Red Monsters appear to have swiftly evaded most of these hurdles,” Stijn Wuyts, a professor at the University of Bath and co-author of the published study, said in a statement.

The discovery unfolded as a part of the James Webb Space Telescope FRESCO survey program, which employs the telescope’s unique instruments for observations.

The telescope’s near-infrared camera was what the researchers used to spot the galaxies. They studied the distances and characteristics of the “Red Monsters” in their constituent wavelengths of light. The telescope also provided them views through parts of the galaxies obscured by dust.

The “Red Monsters” are nearly as large as the Milky Way and create stars at a rate faster than most discovered galaxies. NASA/CSA/ESA, M. Xiao & P. A. Oesch (University of Geneva), G. Brammer (Niels Bohr Institute), Dawn JWST Archive

The discovery, despite the galaxies’ uncommon quirks, doesn’t challenge the accepted model of the universe but does raise questions about existing galaxy theories.

“These results indicate that galaxies in the early Universe could form stars with unexpected efficiency. As we study these galaxies in more depth, they will offer new insights into the conditions that shaped the Universe’s earliest epochs,” Dr. Mengyuan Xiao, lead author of the study and postdoctoral researcher at the University of Geneva, said in a news release from the university.

“The Red Monsters are just the beginning of a new era in our exploration of the early Universe.”