Hu Zhan

A dense fog, through which only occasional headlight beams pierce. So it was in the early universe: young galaxies were wrapped in clouds of neutral hydrogen, which eagerly absorbed ultraviolet light. But sometimes gaps appeared in this shroud, and ionizing radiation burst out, making the cosmos transparent.

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.

In the dense galaxy cluster Abell 2744, where gravity bends light like a lens, the James Webb Space Telescope spotted a new point of light. It appeared in images from 2023 and then began to change brightness. It was a supernova, the explosion of a dying star, but not just any kind: a Type IIP.