There's absolutely zero reason in anything that the James Webb has seen or anything else to doubt the basic Big Bang model of the universe expanding from an initial hot, dense state. Forming a galaxy is kind of a mess. It is exactly the kind of complex system, gastrophysically intimidating problem that we poor human beings are not very good at solving. So if you find data that is not an immediate fit to your current best theory of galaxy formation, you don't throw out the Big Bang. You throw out your current best theories of galaxy formation.
Welcome to the September 2022 Ask Me Anything episode of Mindscape! These monthly excursions are funded by Patreon supporters (who are also the ones asking the questions). We take questions asked by Patrons, whittle them down to a more manageable number — based primarily on whether I have anything interesting to say about them, not whether the questions themselves are good — and sometimes group them together if they are about a similar topic. Enjoy!
Support Mindscape on Patreon.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.