A massive ancient galaxy defies the laws of cosmic rotation

Space · Published 22 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Current models suggest that young galaxies should be spinning, fueled by inflowing gas and gravity. Yet, the James Webb Space Telescope has identified a giant galaxy from the early universe that shows no rotation at all—a state usually reserved for much older, mature systems.

The discovery centers on galaxy XMM-VID1-2075, observed by researchers using the James Webb Space Telescope. The universe aged under 2 billion years during this system's creation. According to standard astrophysical theories, early galaxies should possess significant angular momentum because of the way gas flows inward during their formation. However, XMM-VID1-2075 displays no evidence of rotation, instead exhibiting a lot of random motion among its stars. The study was published in Nature Astronomy on May 4. Scientists were able to track the relative movement of material inside these systems. This specific galaxy is part of a larger sample of three similar objects.

This lack of spin is typically only seen in massive, evolved galaxies much closer to Earth. In those cases, the behavior is attributed to billions of years of galactic mergers and interactions within dense clusters. These collisions can cause rotations to cancel each other out over vast timescales. The presence of such a non-rotating state so early in cosmic history is surprising because it suggests these complex evolutionary processes may happen much faster than previously thought. These interactions are particularly common within dense galaxy clusters. The transformation into a non-rotating state is expected to take an enormous amount of time. Such findings challenge current models regarding how young galaxies should behave.

The research team, part of the MAGAZ3NE survey, first identified XMM-VID1-2075 using the W.M. Keck observatory in Hawaiʻi. They noted that the galaxy was already several times as massive as our Milky Way and had ceased forming new stars. By using the James Webb Space Telescope to measure internal material movement, they were able to distinguish its unique lack of rotation from other nearby galaxies of a similar age, one of which is clearly rotating while another appears messy. The team specifically sampled three different galaxies from the same era. One of these objects was found to be clearly rotating. Another galaxy in the group appeared to have a messy structure.

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