2023-11-07 12:01:39
Target galaxy as seen by the James Webb Space Telescope (left) and the Hubble Space Telescope (right). The unprecedented resolution and clarity of the JWST images allowed the identification of neighboring galaxies (cyan circles). – ICRAR
MADRID, 7 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –
New images from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have helped unlock secrets of how young galaxies sparked an explosion of star formation in the early universe.
Some early galaxies were rich in gas that shone so brightly that it outshone the emerging stars. In new research, astronomers have discovered how prevalent These were bright galaxies about 12 billion years ago.
JWST images have shown that almost 90% of galaxies in the early universe had this bright gas, producing the so-called “characteristics of extreme emission lines”.
“The stars in these young galaxies were remarkable and produced just the right amount of radiation to excite the surrounding gas. This gas, in turn, shone even brighter than the stars themselves,” he says. it’s a statement Dr Anshu Gupta, from the Center of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D) and the Curtin University node of the International Center for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR), lead author of a paper describing the discovery.
“Until now it was difficult to understand how these galaxies could accumulate so much gas. Our findings suggest that each of these galaxies had at least one close neighbor galaxy. The interaction between these galaxies would cause the gas to cool and trigger an intense episode of star formation , resulting in this extreme emission characteristic.”
The discovery is a graphic example of the unparalleled clarity that the JWST telescope provides when studying the early universe.
“The quality of the data from the James Webb telescope is exceptional,” says Dr. Gupta. “It has the depth and resolution necessary to see neighboring galaxies and the environment around the first galaxies, when the universe was only 2 billion years old. With this detail we could see a marked difference in the number of neighbors between galaxies with the emission extreme features and those that don’t.”
We previously struggled to get a clear picture of the around 2 billion-year-old galaxies in the universe. As there were still many stars to be formed, The task was made more difficult by having many fewer galaxies to focus on.
“Before JWST, we could only image really massive galaxies, most of which are in very dense clusters, making them more difficult to study,” says Dr. Gupta. “With the technology available then, we were unable to observe 95% of the galaxies we used in this study. The James Webb Telescope has revolutionized our work.”
The discovery has proven previous assumptions, says author Tran, director of the ASTRO 3D Association and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. “We suspected that these extreme galaxies are signs of intense interactions in the early universe, but only with the sharp eyes of the JWST were we able to confirm our hunch“, dice.
The research was based on data obtained as part of the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES) study, which explores the universe of the earliest galaxies with deep infrared imaging and multi-object spectroscopy. Opens the way to greater knowledge.
“What’s really exciting about this piece is that we see similarities in the emission lines between the first galaxies and galaxies that formed more recently and are easier to measure. This means we now have more ways to answer questions about the early universe.” , a period that is technically very difficult to study,” says second author Ravi Jaiswar, a PhD student at Curtin University/ICRAR and ASTRO 3D.
“This research is fundamental to the work of our Galaxy Evolution Program. By understanding what primitive galaxies are like, we can answer questions about the origin of the elements that make up our everything in our daily lives here on Earth,” says the professor Emma Ryan-Weber, director of ASTRO 3D.
The research is published in The Astrophysical Journal.
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