Scientists untangle mystery about the universe's earliest galaxies

Images of six candidate massive galaxies, seen 540 million to 770 million years after the Big Bang, are shown in this undated handout image based on observations by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, as one of them (bottom left) could contain as many stars as our present-day Milky Way, but is 30 times more compact. NASA, ESA, CSA, I. Labbe (Swinburne University of Technology)/Handout via REUTERS

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Since beginning operations last year, the James Webb Space Telescope has provided an astonishing glimpse of the early history of our universe, spotting a collection of galaxies dating to the enigmatic epoch called cosmic dawn.

But the existence of what appear to be massive and mature galaxies during the universe's infancy defied expectations - too big and too soon. That left scientists scrambling for an explanation while questioning the basic tenets of cosmology, the science of the origin and development of the universe. A new study may resolve the mystery without ripping up the textbooks.