Did JWST Discover Dark Matter Stars?

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We knew that the James Webb Space Telescope would find interesting stuff, especially about the mysterious early times. For example, there are hints that the galaxies we’re seeing are brighter and more regular than expected given the short amount of time they’d had to grow. Well, perhaps no one was expecting that we’d find a completely new type of star—one mostly made of and powered by dark matter and shining as bright as an entire galaxy. Which, by the way, might help us explain those pesky giant galaxies.

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[baconcatbug]

Matt is so OP he travelled back in time to give us the upcoming episode on Dark Stars early.

[JollyFuchsia]

MASSIVE appreciation for the visualisation team. Every video I'm flabbergasted by the quality of these animations. 👏🏼

[Merennulli]

Astronomy 50 years ago: Stare at tiny dots until you see enough to learn something.
Astronomy today: Stare at nothing until you see tiny dots.

[KillerGumby-llxc]

Its crazy that John Mitchell had the idea that stars were so big that their gravity wouldn't allow it's light to shine in the 1700s what a under rated astronomer!

[Williamw]

Just looked up and read about John Michell. Guy needs more recognition! He predicted black holes in the 18th century and actually conceived of and designed the apparatus for the Cavendish experiment but died before he could carry it out, and then his friend Cavendish finished the work.

[georgemichaelpetty]

Matt O'Dowd is the best astronomy and physics educator on YouTube.

[TJSaw]

What I love about the universe is that the more we find out, the less we know.

[robfenwitch]

The real Matt O'Dowd would have said "How do you think I survive so long, out here...in Space Time".

[dougadams]

The answer to the title question is big fat *NO*.

[frankwestphal]

Another exceptional PBS SpaceTime episode. This is one of the best or possibly the best physics short form series out there. The density of information is In each episode astounding. Thank you for providing content that continues to push and often exceed my limits of comprehension ability. It's crazy how we evolve over time. Concepts that pushed the limits of my comprehension ability a couple years ago, seem easy to understand to me now. Thanks to PBS SpaceTime, there is no risk of me being left without mind-bending comprehension limit challenges anytime soon.😊 Wonderful job, everyone.

[cacogenicist]

It's an attractive idea in its tidiness -- dark stars -> really big black holes --> quasars --> modern galaxies with SMBH cores

[PhilipMurphyExtra]

PBS Space Time always has top quality Space content, That is for sure.

[seanmortazyt]

we are so lucky to have such high quality programs available to us at the push of a button, anytime, anywhere… thanks pbs team!

[Fruhmple]

The Webb telescope is awesome. Can't wait to see more discoveries!

[Mysterios]

I also like the theory that these kind of stars are black hole stars, so that the pressure in a young universe was too great for the explosion at the creation of a start to push the gasses away, as it happens in modern star systems, but that they stayed close to the star, force feeding it with more and more material until the core collapsed into a black hole while the exterior still remain a star, force feeding the star-corpse to grow bigger and bigger while the radiation of the black hole keeps the star from completely collapsing into it.

[AlisonN]

As someone with a learning disability, I just wanted to say, thank you SO much to Matt and everyone on the team. I've always been so curious about how the universe works and felt like it was impossible for me to get it because of the math, but this show unlocked so much for me. Matt, you remind me of my physics teacher who would spend hours after school every week helping me understand the class material. Almost 10 years later, you've reignited a curiosity and passion for me to learn about science and math (I even picked up a copy of The Theoretical Minimum 😊).

Also, I teach career/life skills to people coming home from Rikers or prison, and I've used a lot of your lesson techniques. Students tell me it's helped and inspired them a lot. I hope you guys get to keep doing this show for a long, long time!

[spidalack]

Queue people thinking this will make scientist panic because they were wrong about something.
Queue scientists being super exited because they were wrong about something.

Awesome explanation. As always, thanks for your awesome work.

[shawnholbrook]

Space Time and a Dr Becky reference. 😊 my favourite ways to learn about space. Thanks, Matt.

[Melomathics]

This is speculation of a speculation of another speculation.

[TheSpaceLibrary]

This channel keeps delivering incredible science content, huge well done to the whole team!