We finally know what brought light to the dark and formless void of the early Universe.

According to data from the Hubble and James Webb Space Telescopes, the origins of the free-flying photons in the early cosmic dawn were small dwarf galaxies that flared to life, clearing the fog of murky hydrogen that filled intergalactic space. A paper about the research was published in February 2024.

“This discovery unveils the crucial role played by ultra-faint galaxies in the early Universe’s evolution,” said astrophysicist Iryna Chemerynska of the Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris.