NASA Telescopes Spot Surprisingly Mature Cluster in Early Universe

Discovery challenges models of when galaxy clusters first formed

Jan. 28, 2026 at 11:07am

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A new discovery using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and James Webb Space Telescope has captured the cosmic moment when a galaxy cluster, among the largest structures in the universe, started to assemble only about a billion years after the big bang - one or two billion years earlier than previously thought. This protocluster, known as JADES-ID1, has a mass about 20 trillion times that of the Sun and is the most distant confirmed protocluster ever seen.

Why it matters

This discovery will lead astronomers to rethink when and how the largest structures in the universe formed. Galaxy clusters are important for measuring the expansion of the universe and understanding the roles of dark energy and dark matter, so pinpointing when they first started to take shape is crucial.

The details

The Chandra and Webb data reveal that JADES-ID1 contains the two properties that confirm the presence of a protocluster: a large number of galaxies held together by gravity (Webb sees at least 66 potential members) that are also sitting in a huge cloud of hot gas (detected by Chandra). Most models of the universe predict that there likely would not be enough time and a large enough density of galaxies for a protocluster of this size to form only a billion years after the big bang.

  • JADES-ID1 is located about 12.7 billion light-years from Earth, corresponding to just a billion years after the big bang.
  • The previous record holder for a protocluster with X-ray emission is seen much later, about three billion years after the big bang.

The players

Akos Bogdan

Researcher at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA) who led the study.

Gerrit Schellenberger

Researcher at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA) and co-author of the study.

Qiong Li

Researcher at the University of Manchester in the UK and co-author of the study.

Christopher Conselice

Researcher at the University of Manchester and co-author of the study.

JADES-ID1

The protocluster discovered, with a mass of about 20 trillion times that of the Sun.

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What they’re saying

“This may be the most distant confirmed protocluster ever seen. JADES-ID1 is giving us new evidence that the universe was in a huge hurry to grow up.”

— Akos Bogdan, Researcher at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA)

“It's very important to actually see when and how galaxy clusters grow. It's like watching an assembly line make a car, rather than just trying to figure out how a car works by looking at the finished product.”

— Gerrit Schellenberger, Researcher at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA)

“We thought we'd find a protocluster like this two or three billion years after the big bang - not just one billion. Before, astronomers found surprisingly large galaxies and black holes not long after the big bang, and now we're finding that clusters of galaxies can also grow rapidly.”

— Qiong Li, Researcher at the University of Manchester

“Discoveries like this are made when two powerful telescopes like Chandra and Webb stare at the same patch of sky at the limit of their observing capabilities. A challenge for us now is to understand how this protocluster was able to form so quickly.”

— Christopher Conselice, Researcher at the University of Manchester

What’s next

Astronomers will continue to study JADES-ID1 and other early galaxy clusters to better understand how the largest structures in the universe were able to form so quickly after the Big Bang.

The takeaway

This discovery challenges existing models of galaxy cluster formation, showing that the universe was able to assemble massive structures much earlier than previously thought. It opens up new avenues of research into the early evolution of the cosmos.