JWST finds warm dust surviving in intergalactic space around galaxy Makani

Using JWST observations, astronomers led by UMD identified warm dust in the distant galaxy Makani that was heated by newborn stars and then expelled by a powerful starburst-driven wind, with particles surviving in intergalactic space for roughly 100 million years.

Discovered 2025-09-07T03:29:31.698821-07:00 | 2025-09-07T03:29:31.698821-07:00

Briefing

What Hype is tracking

Demonstrates JWST's capacity to trace dust and feedback: the team used Webb imaging to detect warm dust heated by newborn stars and surviving for ~100 million years, extending Webb's proven ability to resolve detailed star‑forming structures (Webb captures thousands of newborn stars).
Alters constraints on dust survival and galactic‑wind models that underpin galaxy‑formation studies and planned extragalactic surveys; these results connect directly to ongoing JWST programs and long‑wavelength MIRI analyses that probe early, dusty galaxies (MINERVA survey with NIRCam and MIRI captures red, long‑wavelength view).

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