James Webb Space Telescope identifies 104 magnified stellar events in Dragon Galaxy, offering new insights into dark matter

Astronomers using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope have identified 104 magnified stellar events in the distant Dragon Galaxy, more than doubling the previous record. This discovery provides a potentially important new way to investigate the mysterious nature of dark matter. The galaxy, located approximately 6.5 billion light-years from Earth, is visible due to the immense gravitational pull of a foreground galaxy cluster, which bends and magnifies its light. The findings, led by astronomer José María Palencia, were published on September 30, 2026, in the journal *Astronomy & Astrophysics*, with news reporting on November 8, 2026.