Credit: SciTechDaily.comAstronomers utilizing the James Webb Space Telescope discovered an ancient galaxy with halted star formation, raising concerns about galaxy life cycles.A galaxy that unexpectedly stopped forming new stars more than 13 billion years earlier has been observed by astronomers.Using the James Webb Space Telescope, a global team of astronomers led by the University of Cambridge and including LJMU, have actually found a dead galaxy when the universe was just 700 million years old, the earliest such galaxy ever observed.Early Universe PhenomenaThis galaxy appears to have lived quick and died young: star development happened rapidly and stopped nearly as quickly, which is unforeseen for so early in the universes development. It is unclear whether this galaxys satiated state is momentary or irreversible, and what triggered it to stop forming new stars.The results, reported on March 6 in the journal Nature, could be crucial to assist astronomers comprehend how and why galaxies stop forming new stars, and whether the elements impacting star formation have actually altered over billions of years.Causes of Star Formation Cessation”The very first few hundred million years of the universe was a really active phase, with lots of gas clouds collapsing to form brand-new stars,” stated Tobias Looser from the Kavli Institute for Cosmology, the papers very first author. Other satiated galaxies in the early universe have actually been far more huge, but Webbs enhanced sensitivity allows smaller sized and fainter galaxies to be observed and analyzed.The astronomers state that although it appears dead at the time of observation, its possible that in the approximately 13 billion years given that, this galaxy may have come back to life and started forming new stars again.Reference: “A recently satiated galaxy 700 million years after the Big Bang” by Tobias J. Looser, Francesco DEugenio, Roberto Maiolino, Joris Witstok, Lester Sandles, Emma Curtis-Lake, Jacopo Chevallard, Sandro Tacchella, Benjamin D. Johnson, William M. Baker, Katherine A. Suess, Stefano Carniani, Pierre Ferruit, Santiago Arribas, Nina Bonaventura, Andrew J. Bunker, Alex J. Cameron, Stephane Charlot, Mirko Curti, Anna de Graaff, Michael V. Maseda, Tim Rawle, Hans-Walter Rix, Bruno Rodríguez Del Pino, Renske Smit, Hannah Übler, Chris Willott, Stacey Alberts, Eiichi Egami, Daniel J. Eisenstein, Ryan Endsley, Ryan Hausen, Marcia Rieke, Brant Robertson, Irene Shivaei, Christina C. Williams, Kristan Boyett, Zuyi Chen, Zhiyuan Ji, Gareth C. Jones, Nimisha Kumari, Erica Nelson, Michele Perna, Aayush Saxena and Jan Scholtz, 6 March 2024, Nature.DOI: 10.1038/ s41586-024-07227-0The research was supported in part by the European Research Council, the Royal Society, and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).
Credit: SciTechDaily.comAstronomers utilizing the James Webb Space Telescope found an ancient galaxy with halted star formation, raising questions about galaxy life cycles.A galaxy that unexpectedly stopped forming new stars more than 13 billion years back has actually been observed by astronomers.Using the James Webb Space Telescope, a worldwide team of astronomers led by the University of Cambridge and involving LJMU, have actually found a dead galaxy when the universe was just 700 million years old, the earliest such galaxy ever observed.Early Universe PhenomenaThis galaxy appears to have lived fast and died young: star formation occurred rapidly and stopped almost as rapidly, which is unexpected for so early in the universes development. It is unclear whether this galaxys quenched state is long-term or short-term, and what triggered it to stop forming new stars.The outcomes, reported on March 6 in the journal Nature, might be crucial to help astronomers comprehend how and why galaxies stop forming new stars, and whether the aspects impacting star development have actually changed over billions of years.Causes of Star Formation Cessation”The very first couple of hundred million years of the universe was a very active stage, with lots of gas clouds collapsing to form brand-new stars,” stated Tobias Looser from the Kavli Institute for Cosmology, the papers first author. Other satiated galaxies in the early universe have been far more enormous, however Webbs improved level of sensitivity permits smaller and fainter galaxies to be observed and analyzed.The astronomers say that although it appears dead at the time of observation, its possible that in the approximately 13 billion years since, this galaxy might have come back to life and started forming new stars again.Reference: “A recently quenched galaxy 700 million years after the Big Bang” by Tobias J. Looser, Francesco DEugenio, Roberto Maiolino, Joris Witstok, Lester Sandles, Emma Curtis-Lake, Jacopo Chevallard, Sandro Tacchella, Benjamin D. Johnson, William M. Baker, Katherine A. Suess, Stefano Carniani, Pierre Ferruit, Santiago Arribas, Nina Bonaventura, Andrew J. Bunker, Alex J. Cameron, Stephane Charlot, Mirko Curti, Anna de Graaff, Michael V. Maseda, Tim Rawle, Hans-Walter Rix, Bruno Rodríguez Del Pino, Renske Smit, Hannah Übler, Chris Willott, Stacey Alberts, Eiichi Egami, Daniel J. Eisenstein, Ryan Endsley, Ryan Hausen, Marcia Rieke, Brant Robertson, Irene Shivaei, Christina C. Williams, Kristan Boyett, Zuyi Chen, Zhiyuan Ji, Gareth C. Jones, Nimisha Kumari, Erica Nelson, Michele Perna, Aayush Saxena and Jan Scholtz, 6 March 2024, Nature.DOI: 10.1038/ s41586-024-07227-0The research study was supported in part by the European Research Council, the Royal Society, and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).