Scientists using the James Webb Space Telescope have identified an ancient and faraway galaxy that provides evidence that an important transition period that brought the early universe out of its "dark ages" occurred sooner than previously thought.

Astronomers have identified a bright hydrogen emission from a galaxy in the very early universe. The surprise finding is challenging researchers to explain how this light could have pierced the thick fog of neutral hydrogen that filled space at that time.

The strange sight is actually two galaxies, with the light of the second warped around the one at the front as a result of its massive gravity.