Star bars show galaxies evolved faster than previously thought

Astronomers in our Centre for Extragalactic Astronomy used the James Webb Space Telescope to look back more than ten billion years to find evidence of bar formation in early galaxies.
Bars are elongated strips of stars found in disc or spiral galaxies like our Milky Way.
Their presence tells scientists that galaxies have entered a settled, mature phase, meaning scientists might now have to rethink their theories about galaxy evolution in the early Universe.
Find out more here: durham.ac.uk/news-events/latest-news/2024/04/star-bars-galaxy-evolution-research/