Houjun Mo

The James Webb Space Telescope has spotted astonishing objects in the depths of space — tiny red dots that shine so brightly it's as if a spotlight were hidden inside a small bulb. These dots are not stars or galaxies in the usual sense, but rather 'cocoons' around supermassive black holes greedily gulping down surrounding gas.

In the first half-billion years after the Big Bang, galaxies grew like crazy. Gas fell in rapidly and collapsed into stars without any resistance. This period is called 'unimpeded star formation.' It's like frying pancakes on a scorching skillet without a lid: splatters fly, but nothing holds them back.

An old city gains new suburbs. In the center, narrow streets where life has nearly stopped, while on the outskirts construction is booming. That is what a spiral galaxy looks like when its core stars have long aged and new stars are still being born in the outer disk.