GN-z11 in the GOODS-North field

This image from Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) instrument shows a portion of the GOODS-North field of galaxies. At the lower right, a pullout highlights the galaxy GN-z11, which is seen at a time just 430 million years after the Big Bang. The image reveals an extended component, tracing the GN-z11 host galaxy, and a central, compact source whose colours are consistent with those of an accretion disc surrounding a black hole.

[Image description: A rectangular image with thousands of galaxies of various shapes and colours on the black background of space. Some are noticeably spirals, either face-on or edge-on, while others are blobby ellipticals. Many are too small to discern any structure. One prominent foreground star at top centre features Webb’s signature eight-point diffraction spikes. At lower right, a small region is highlighted with a white box. Vertical lines extend upward like a cone to the bottom corners of a larger box at upper right, showing a zoomed-in version of the highlighted area. The pullout features a galaxy labelled GN-z11, seen as a fuzzy yellow dot. Above it is another galaxy, seen as a fuzzy red oval.]

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