James Webb telescope reveals 'Sleeping Beauty' galaxies in the early universe — snoozing where they weren't supposed to exist

Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope found 14 "dormant" galaxies that stopped forming stars within the first billion years after the Big Bang. These galaxies, ranging from 40 million to 30 billion solar masses, have been inactive for 10-25 million years. The findings suggest early galaxies may have had intermittent star formation, likely due to stellar feedback processes. This discovery challenges assumptions about continuous star formation in young galaxies and offers new insights into early galactic evolution.