Discovery of metal-poor and distant pre-main sequence candidates in WLM with JWST

We present the discovery of twelve metal-poor and distant pre-main sequence (PMS) candidates in the dwarf irregular galaxy Wolf-Lundmark-Melotte (WLM)~968 kpc away, at a present-day metallicity of [Fe/H] around $-$0.9. These candidates have masses between 1.25-5 M$_{\odot}$, with ages <10 Myr, and exhibit significant near-infrared excesses at 2.5 and 4.3 $\mu$m. They are concentrated within a cluster roughly 10 pc (2'') across situated in the HII region [HM95]-9. These are the most distant and metal-poor PMS stars known, and can offer new quantitative insights into star formation at low-metallicities.