2023-11-15 08:45:14
In the early universe, shortly after the Big Bang, only light chemical elements such as hydrogen, helium and lithium existed. Elements heavier than these, such as oxygen, were later formed by nuclear fusion reactions inside stars and dispersed into galaxies, mainly through events such as supernova explosions.
This continuous process of synthesis of chemical elements, developed throughout cosmic history, created the various chemical elements that make up the world and everything around us, including the ingredients of life.
A team led by Kimihiko Nakajima of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan used data collected by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) of the US, European and Canadian space agencies to measure the abundance of oxygen in the early universe. Specifically, the researchers measured oxygen in 138 galaxies that existed in the first 2 billion years of the universe.
Nakajima and his colleagues found that most galaxies had oxygen abundances similar to those of modern galaxies.
The results show that the amount of oxygen in galaxies increased rapidly between 500 million years and 700 million years after the birth of the universe, and has since remained as abundant as observed in modern galaxies.
Images captured in infrared by the James Webb Space Telescope showing 6 of the galaxies investigated in the new study, as they were between 500 and 700 million years after the birth of the universe. (Photos: NASA, ESA, CSA, K. Nakajima et al.)
This rapid increase in oxygen content occurred earlier than astronomers believed.
This early appearance of oxygen denotes that the chemical elements necessary for life were present earlier than expected.
This suggests that, with the necessary ingredients for life, it could have emerged in the universe much earlier than has been believed.
El estudio se titula “JWST Census for the Mass-Metallicity Star Formation Relations at z = 4-10 with Self-consistent Flux Calibration and Proper Metallicity Calibrators”. Y se ha publicado en la revista académica The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. (Fuente: NCYT de Amazings)
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