JWST spots the most distant ‘smoke’ molecules ever seen in space

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has spied a ‘smoke ring’ of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in a faraway galaxy. The compounds, which are also found in soot and smoke, form near young, massive stars. Because the galaxy is so distant that it appears as it did when the Universe was just 10% of its current age, it must have been busy creating stars during that time.