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6 mind-blowing cosmic surprises from NASA’s James Webb Telescope in its first three years

With its unparalleled infrared capabilities, Webb now accomplishes what was once impossible, transforming our view of the cosmos from distant galaxies to our solar system.

BY RAJ NAIK

PUBLISHED 4 DAYS AGO

(L) Abell 2744, nicknamed Pandora’s Cluster, is a giant pile-up of four smaller galaxy clusters; (R) Spiral galaxy NGC 628 is 32 million light-years away in the constellation Pisces. (Cover Image Source: NASA | Photo by (L) ESA; (R) James Webb Space Teles

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has been relentlessly observing our universe for the past three years. Utilizing its unparalleled infrared capabilities, Webb has accomplished what was once deemed impossible, fundamentally altering how we perceive the cosmos, from distant galaxies to our own solar system, as mentioned by NASA.

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST or Webb) observes outer space to detect anomalies. Elements of this image are furnished by NASA (Representative Image by alex-mit / Getty Images) — The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST or Webb) observes outer space to detect anomalies. (Representative Image Source: Getty Images | Photo by Alex-Mit; NASA furnishes elements of this image)

Designed to revolutionize astronomy and rewrite textbooks, Webb has exceeded all expectations. With over 860 scientific programs completed, dedicating a quarter of its time to imaging and three-quarters to spectroscopy, the telescope has amassed nearly 550 terabytes of data. This incredible haul has resulted in over 1,600 research papers, presenting groundbreaking findings and sparking a wealth of new scientific inquiries.

We love Webb’s spectrographic data and the way it studies stars. We love the way Webb sees exoplanets and can even study Mars. We love Webb’s big, gold mirrors and the way it sees back in time. We love Webb so much it even makes us rhyme!

10 things: https://t.co/bdcua98tEi
— NASA Webb Telescope (@NASAWebb) July 2, 2025

Here are six of the most astounding discoveries from Webb's initial three years of operation, provided by NASA

Rapid galactic evolution challenges prior models

Webb's observations of "cosmic dawn" revealed surprisingly bright galaxies formed within 300 million years of the Big Bang, including those with disproportionately massive blackholes and an infant Milky Way-like galaxy. This suggests a much faster cosmic evolution than theorized, per NASA. Webb also recently discovered what appears to be one of the most distant "jellyfish" galaxies ever seen, 12 billion light-years away, hinting that dynamic galaxy evolution processes occurred much earlier than previously understood, as mentioned on Live Science.

Abell 2744, nicknamed Pandora’s Cluster, is a giant pile-up of four smaller galaxy clusters. The cluster is so massive that its powerful gravity bends the light from galaxies far behind it, making the background objects appear larger and brighter in a phenomenon called gravitational lensing (Image Source: NASA) — Abell 2744, nicknamed Pandora’s Cluster, is a giant pile-up of four smaller galaxy clusters. The cluster is so massive that its powerful gravity bends the light from galaxies far behind it, making the background objects appear larger and brighter in a phenomenon called gravitational lensing. (Image Source: NASA | Photo by ESA)

"Little Red Dots" puzzle astronomers

Webb identified a new class of distant, compact, luminous red galaxies dubbed "Little Red Dots." Their extreme brightness and color were a mystery, but many are now believed to be galaxies hosting rapidly growing supermassive black holes (Active Galactic Nuclei, or AGNs). This suggests their luminosity comes from these actively "feeding" black holes, rather than just massive star formation, providing a potential reason for their surprisingly early existence, according to Space.com.

A team of astronomers sifted through James Webb Space Telescope data from multiple surveys to compile one of the largest samples of “little red dots” to date (Image Source: NASA) — A team of astronomers sifted through James Webb Space Telescope data from multiple surveys to compile one of the largest samples of “little red dots” to date. (Image Source: NASA | Photo by JWST)

Lava planet may boast an atmosphere from volcanic activity

Webb's precision allowed it to rule out substantial atmospheres on several rocky planets, yet it found tantalizing signs of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide on 55 Cancri e, a lava world. This suggests its atmosphere might be replenished by gas bubbling up from its molten surface. Webb's observations revealed that 55 Cancri e's dayside is cooler than expected for a bare world, indicating an atmosphere efficiently redistributing heat, likely a secondary atmosphere composed of outgassed CO and CO2, per Eos.org.

This artist's concept shows what the exoplanet 55 Cancri e could look like based on observations from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and other observatories (Representative Image Source: NASA) — Artist's concept shows what the exoplanet 55 Cancri e could look like based on observations from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and other observatories. (Representative Image Source: NASA | Photo by ESA, CSA, Ralf Crawford — STScI)

Spiral galaxies revealed in striking detail

Webb provides unprecedented detail of nearby spiral galaxies, exposing filamentary dust structures, ancient star clusters, and newly forming stars still embedded in glowing cocoons. It clarifies how stellar winds and explosions remodel galactic homes. As part of the PHANGS program, Webb's NIRCam captured millions of sparkling blue stars, while MIRI highlighted glowing dust and even large, spherical shells likely created by past stellar explosions, providing key insights into galaxy evolution, as per ESA.

Webb’s image of NGC 628 shows a densely populated face-on spiral galaxy anchored by its central region, which has a light blue haze that takes up about a quarter of the view (Image Source: NASA) — Webb’s image of NGC 628 shows a densely populated face-on spiral galaxy anchored by its central region, which has a light blue haze that takes up about a quarter of the view (Image Source: NASA | Photo by Janice Lee (STScI), Thomas Williams (Oxford), PHANGS team)

Planets might endure stellar demise

A long-standing question concerned planets' survival after their host star becomes a red giant and then a white dwarf. Webb may have identified several candidate planets orbiting white dwarfs. If confirmed, this would signify that planets can endure stellar death. Webb has directly imaged two candidate giant planets orbiting distinct white dwarfs, with one estimated to be 1.3 times Jupiter's mass with a Saturn-like orbit, strongly indicating such systems can persist after the host star's demise, per EarthSky.

Quasar surrounded by an orbiting accretion disk of gas, a Supermassive star with X-rays and electromagnetic radiation (Representative Photo by Pitris / Getty Images) — Quasar surrounded by an orbiting accretion disk of gas, a Supermassive star with X-rays and electromagnetic radiation (Representative Image Source: Getty Images | Photo by Pitris)

Enceladus feeds Saturn's water supply with a gigantic plume

While Cassini detected Enceladus' water plumes, only Webb revealed their true scale as a vast cloud spanning over 6,000 miles, or more than 20 times the size of Enceladus, Saturn's small, icy moon. This water disperses into a torus around Saturn, with the majority spreading throughout the Saturnian system, even causing rain on the planet. This towering plume ejects water at an astounding rate of about 300 liters per second, with Webb observations confirming this outflow directly contributes to a vast, donut-shaped water torus around Saturn, per STScl.

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The Webb telescope has brought the universe into a significant amount of detail within the grasp of ordinary citizens over its 3-year operation. Engineers estimate at least another 20 years of stellar work from the telescope, providing scientists the opportunity to have more perplexing questions answered.