Early galaxies seeded heavy elements across infant universe

James Webb Space Telescope data reveals galaxies at 500 million years old were already creating and dispersing heavy elements like carbon and oxygen. Yongda Zhu's team detected blueshifted absorption lines in three galaxies with redshifts 7.2 to 9.3, indicating galactic winds expelled metals into space, enriching surrounding gas far earlier than previously believed.

Heavy elements escaped from galaxies very, very early in cosmic time. Not only were the galaxies producing these elements, but they were also dispersing them, possibly seeding other galaxies.