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Scientists Identify 'Astronomy’s Platypus' with NASA’s Webb Telescope

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January 06, 2026 12:16PM (EST)Release ID: 2026-101
James Webb Space Telescope image showing a broad area of space with many small galaxies, four of which are highlighted in pull-out boxes. The four highlighted galaxies are very small, appearing as points of light. Black areas of the overall image indicate where the telescope did not collect data – a vertical section in the center and a square in the lower left corner.

Summary

A small sample of galaxies discovered in Webb’s archive exhibit a previously unseen combination of features that hint at a possible new population of galaxies.

At the 247th meeting of the American Astronomical Society, researchers have shared preliminary but tantalizing results after a detailed analysis of James Webb Space Telescope archival data: a small sample of tiny galaxies that don’t fit in existing categories. Principal investigator Haojing Yan compares them to an infamous misfit in another branch of science, biology’s taxonomy-defying platypus. Has the research team discovered a missing link in the cosmos?

Full Article

After combing through NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s archive of sweeping extragalactic cosmic fields, a small team of astronomers at the University of Missouri says they have identified a sample of galaxies that have a previously unseen combination of features. Principal investigator Haojing Yan compares the discovery to an infamous oddball in another branch of science: biology’s taxonomy-defying platypus. “It seems that we’ve identified a population of galaxies that we can’t categorize, they are so odd. On the one hand they are extremely tiny and compact, ...

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News releases highlighting the discoveries of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope are produced for NASA by the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Maryland, under NASA Contract NAS5-03127. News release content is developed by the News Team in STScI’s Office of Public Outreach.

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