Barred spiral galaxy seen as it existed 2 billion years after the Big Bang

Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope report a barred spiral galaxy, COSMOS-74706, dated to about 11.5 billion years ago, and presented the finding at the AAS meeting on Jan. 8, 2026.

A team led by the University of Pittsburgh reported the detection of a barred spiral galaxy in early James Webb Space Telescope data. The object, designated COSMOS-74706, was analyzed with Webb's spectrometers and dated to roughly 11.5 billion years ago. The researchers presented the result at the 247th American Astronomical Society meeting on Jan. 8, 2026. The observation is discussed because it bears on when central bar structures first appeared in galactic evolution. Key details: - The study was led by Daniel Ivanov, a graduate student in physics and astronomy at the University of Pittsburgh. - Observations used NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope data via the Space Telescope Science Institute and relied on spectroscopy to measure the galaxy's properties. - COSMOS-74706 was dated to about 11.5 billion years ago, which the article reports as roughly 2 billion years after the Big Bang. - Earlier candidate barred spirals reported in the literature often depended on gravitational lensing or redshift estimates; the article notes those methods can be less definitive than spectroscopy. - The article notes that some simulations had predicted bar formation as early as 12.5 billion years, and this spectroscopic detection helps constrain such timelines. Summary: The spectroscopic identification of a barred spiral at this epoch provides direct observational evidence that bar structures were present relatively early in cosmic history and contributes a data point for models of galactic evolution. Undetermined at this time.