The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has found a bizarre galaxy in the early universe whose gas outshines its stars, marking  it out as a possible missing link in galactic evolution.

The galaxy, called GS-NDG-9422 (9422), was spotted just one billion years after the Big Bang and is filled with massive stars burning nearly twice as hot as those typically found in the local universe.

These exotic stars are bombarding the gas clouds that surround them with enormous quantities of light particles (photons) , heating the clouds up and causing them to outshine the stars they enshroud — a rare trait hypothesized to exist in galaxies that contain the oldest generations of stars, according to the study authors. The researchers published their findings in the October issue of Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.