Giant Galaxies Too Early for Theory
Astronomers astounded at massive,
luminous galaxy discoveries that
undermine big bang assumptions
A Giant Surprise Smashes Old Universe Astronomy
Guest article by Dr. Sarah Buckland-Reynolds*
In an enlightening fashion, more recent findings from the James Webb Telescope turn the gradual evolutionary story on its head.
In a recent article published in Nature Astronomy, evolutionary astronomers described their ‘surprising’ finding of the ‘Big Wheel’ galaxy: an unusually huge galaxy thought to be formed within the first two billion years of the 13.8-billion-year universe, making it around 12 billion years old—that is, according to evolutionary assumptions.
But what makes this Big Wheel run over the gradual Big Bang theory? The authors admit that “this galaxy…is surprisingly similar to today’s largest disks with regard to size and mass.” [emphasis added]
How Galaxies Were Supposed to Form
Based on evolutionary theory, large galaxies form slowly and gradually through the processes of accretion (accumulation of gases and other matter from its surroundings), and galaxy mergers (the collision of multiple smaller galaxies), with ample gravity from ‘dark matter’ to attract more matter for growth. According to cosmic evolutionists, the ancient beginnings of our universe simply did not have the structure nor the time necessary for early galaxies to be large and complex like the Big Wheel.
In the grand scheme of the evolutionary timeline, the supposed 2 billion year-formation of the Big Wheel is too ‘short’ a time for its size and mass. In a commentary published in The Daily Mail, the reporter admits:
This presents a puzzling question: how did this galaxy manage to grow so enormous in such a relatively short amount of time?
In another commentary article, author Nanayakkara, Lead Astronomer at the James Webb Australian Data Centre at the Swinburne University of Technology admits:
We previously thought galaxy disks form gradually over a long period: either through gas smoothly flowing into galaxies from surrounding space, or by merging with smaller galaxies. Usually, rapid mergers between galaxies would disrupt the delicate spiral structures, turning them into more chaotic shapes. However, the Big Wheel managed to quickly grow to a surprisingly large size without losing its distinctive spiral form. This challenges long-held ideas about the growth of giant galaxies.
Unfortunately, despite their admission of the issues raised, the evolutionary model is once again thrust as a ‘just so’ spoke in this Big Wheel discovery. The observation is assumed as a possible ‘outlier’, and ‘not a problem for cosmological theories.’ Despite these assertions interspersed, a startling admission is made by one of the authors:
If they aren’t as uncommon as experts currently believe them to be, they may have to reevaluate everything they know about galaxy formation.
Re-evaluations Default to… The ‘Perfect’ Unguided Hand of Evolution
Ironically, while upholding their cosmic evolutionary assumptions, these scientists serendipitously describe the finely tuned conditions that must have been in place in the early universe for the Big Wheel to form. Scientist Nanayakkara stated:
At the same time, ‘the gas flowing into the galaxy must have aligned well with its rotation, allowing the disk to grow quickly without being disrupted. So, a perfect combination…
Perfect indeed. ‘Perfect’ stuff just happens, right?
However, in a classic Darwin-like fashion, the author also states:
“... if we keep finding more, then I think we may have to say ‘Okay, our models might need some refining.”
… which is a very bold thing to say.
Yet, We Do Keep Finding More – Evolutionary Theory JADES Again!
Published within days of this statement, yet another forthcoming finding published in Astronomy and Astrophysics and publicized in CNN Science, found another supposedly even more ancient galaxy, dubbed JADES-GS-z14-0. This galaxy is thought to have been formed 290 million years after the Big Bang. True to its name, this galaxy is unusually large and luminous, jading evolutionary predictions.
Not only does JADES’ size and brightness challenge uniformitarian assumptions, it also includes the discovery of oxygen and 10 times more heavy metals than expected for a galaxy this soon after the big bang. These discoveries undermine the story of the birth and death of stars as supernovae, thought of as the primary source of oxygen in space.
This astronomical finding may be absurd for evolutionary astronomers but again point to rapid formation of galaxies –another smash to the slow and gradual uniformitarian processes that evolutionary theory relies on.
In a startling admission, the lead author stated:
The results show the galaxy has formed very rapidly and is also maturing rapidly, adding to a growing body of evidence that the formation of galaxies happens much faster than was expected…. the oldest galaxies are expected to be smaller and dimmer because the universe was much smaller at the time.
Despite this admission that slow and gradual processes cannot explain JADES-GS-z14-0’s characteristics, the authors defaulted to unobserved explanations in their conclusion, instead of exploring a young universe perspective. In the words of the lead author of the Astronomy and Astrophysics study, Dr. Carniani:
Such elements are produced by massive stars and the large amount of oxygen suggests that several generations of massive stars were already born and died.… [bold added]
Based on this suggestion, it raises the question – to what extent does astronomy rely more on faith than observations, forcing the stars to align to their theory?
While the evolutionary story continues to be told in mass media, at the very least these recent discoveries should make any honest, open-minded evolutionist reconsider his or her long-age assumptions.
The question remains: Will 2025 see the emergence of a paradigm shift in secular astronomy from the evolutionary interpretation of our universe? We may just get another giant surprise!
*Dr. Sarah Buckland-Reynolds is a Christian, Jamaican, Environmental Science researcher, and journal associate editor. She holds the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Geography from the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona with high commendation, a postgraduate specialization in Geomatics at the Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Geography (Major) and Spanish (Minor), with first-class honours. She presently serves as Senior Research Analyst at the Jamaica Productivity Centre, as well as a Fellow and Assistant Project Manager at Logos Research Associates and volunteering as Associate Editor of the Weather, Climate and Society (WCAS) Journal. She is also a former Geography lecturer at the UWI Mona, where she coordinated courses on interdisciplinary Research Methods, Natural Hazards and Environmental Change. Motivated by her faith in God and zeal to positively influence society, Dr. Buckland-Reynolds is also the founder and Principal Director of Chosen to G.L.O.W. Ministries, a Jamaican charitable organization which seeks to amplify the Christian voice in the public sphere and equip more youths to know how to defend their faith.
The quality of her research activity in Environmental Science has been recognized by various awards including the 2024 Editor’s Award from the American Meteorological Society for her reviewing service in the Weather, Climate and Society Journal, the 2023 L’Oreal/UNESCO Women in Science Caribbean Award, the 2023 ICETEX International Experts Exchange Award for study in Colombia. and with her PhD research in drought management also being shortlisted in the top 10 globally for the 2023 Allianz Climate Risk Award by Munich Re Insurance, Germany.
She hopes to inspire others through her Christian journey and positively contribute to building the faith of the next generation to follow Jesus.