# JWST resolves stellar clumps in lensed galaxy Misty Moons at redshift z ~ 11–12

- Published: 2026-11-06 15:52 UTC
- Section: Sky & Space › Astronomy
- Tags: Misty Moons galaxy, James Webb Space Telescope, gravitational lensing, MACS J0257, stellar clumps, redshift 11, VENUS survey
- URL: https://realtech.media/news/rt-5a494da08cf74408ede7c5ac_jwst_resolves_stellar/

**Gravitational lensing revealed dense stellar clumps that account for over 80% of the stellar mass in a distant early galaxy.**

![JWST resolves stellar clumps in lensed galaxy Misty Moons at redshift z ~ 11–12](https://sgzwpqqelzmajkcubgkl.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/rt-media/2026/11/493a9bd8cd0d3703.webp)
*scinexx*

Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have identified a strongly lensed galaxy at redshift z ~ 11–12, designated as Misty Moons, within the VENUS Treasury Survey [1]. Gravitationally magnified by the foreground galaxy cluster MACS J0257.1-2325 at z = 0.505, the system was detailed in a study published in The Astrophysical Journal. Lens reconstruction models predict five separate images of the background source, two of which experience flux magnifications between 20 and 30.

## Stellar clump morphology

Reconstruction in the source plane indicates that Misty Moons is an intrinsically faint sub-L* galaxy with an absolute ultraviolet magnitude of M UV ~ -18.0 mag [1]. High magnification allowed researchers to resolve the source into multiple individual stellar clumps. Each clump exhibits an effective radius ranging from 10 to 70 pc and holds a stellar mass of approximately 10^7 solar masses. According to the baseline photometric analysis, these compact clumps contain more than 80% of the total stellar mass of the galaxy, indicating a highly clustered mode of early star formation distinct from local dwarf systems.

## Mock imaging and comparisons

The two brightest magnified images, ID1 and ID2, reach apparent magnitudes of F200W ~ 26 AB mag and display blue spectral energy distributions marked by distinct Lyman-alpha breaks [1]. To evaluate how the galaxy would appear without lensing distortion, the authors convolved the reconstructed source-plane light distribution with the JWST NIRCam point-spread function. The resulting mock image yields a radial surface-brightness profile consistent with typical unlensed faint systems observed at z ≳ 10, such as JADES-GS-z13-0 and JADES-GS-z14-1.

## Sources

1. [The Astrophysical Journal](https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ae8d09)
2. [scinexx](https://www.scinexx.de/news/kosmos/galaxie-misty-moons-gibt-einen-einblick-in-die-sternbildung-im-jungen-universum)

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Source: RealTech, realtech.media — https://realtech.media/news/rt-5a494da08cf74408ede7c5ac_jwst_resolves_stellar/