The ALMA radio telescope array has determined the age of a distant galaxy, GHZ2/GLASS-z12, to be 367 million years after the Big Bang. This discovery, made possible by the combined power of JWST and ALMA, offers unprecedented insights into the nature of the earliest galaxies in the Universe.
The ALMA radio telescope array has precisely determined the cosmic age of a distant galaxy, GHZ2/GLASS-z12, identified by the James Webb Space Telescope ( JWST ), to be 367 million years after the Big Bang. This groundbreaking discovery stems from the combined power of cutting-edge observatories like JWST and advancements in interferometry, a technique that merges multiple light sources for enhanced clarity in observing celestial objects.
These advancements have revolutionized our understanding of the earliest galaxies in the Universe.GHZ2, located a staggering 13.4 billion light-years away, is one of the most distant and earliest galaxies ever observed. The remarkable observations by both JWST and ALMA have provided astronomers with unprecedented insights into the nature of these primordial galaxies. Jorge Zavala, an astronomer at the East Asian ALMA Regional Center at the NAOJ, led this study. He explained that the team meticulously pointed ALMA for several hours at a seemingly empty location in the sky, aiming to capture a signal from one of the most distant objects known. They successfully detected emissions from excited atoms of elements like hydrogen and oxygen from an epoch never before reached.This confirmation and characterization of GHZ2's physical properties are crucial for testing our current theories of galaxy formation and evolution. Detailed astronomical observations and spectroscopy, the study of light absorption and emission by matter, allow scientists to identify specific chemical elements and compounds within these distant galaxies. GHZ2's observations revealed extreme bursts of star formation 13.4 billion years ago under conditions significantly different from those observed in star-forming galaxies today. The galaxy's relative abundance of heavier elements (metallicity) is substantially lower than most studied galaxies, as expected given the limited availability of heavy elements during the early Universe when stars were primarily composed of hydrogen and helium. These early stars were massive, hot, and short-lived, lasting only a few million years before exploding as supernovae. The team attributes GHZ2's high luminosity to its Population III stars, which are absent in more evolved galaxies. The galaxy's high luminosity is further amplified by its relatively small size, occupying a region of about 100 parsecs (~325 light-years). This indicates a high stellar density, comparable to globular clusters observed in the Milky Way and neighboring galaxies. Other similarities include low metallicity, unusual chemical abundances, high star formation rates, and high stellar mass surface density. These similarities suggest that studying galaxies like GHZ2 could shed light on the origin of globular clusters, a long-standing mystery in astronomy
ALMA JWST Early Universe Galaxy Formation Spectroscopy Population III Stars
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