The James Webb telescope was launched into space in late 2021 and began producing images of distant galaxies as early as July 2022.
In the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, astronomers from the Hebrew University in Israel have published a new theoretical model that solves the mystery of the formation of the first massive galaxies in the universe.
These results explain recent observations made with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), which revealed a sudden excess of massive galaxies in the universe — as early as half a billion years after the Big Bang — contrary to generally accepted theory.
The James Webb telescope was launched into space in late 2021 and began producing images of distant galaxies as early as July 2022. Researchers unexpectedly discovered an excess of massive galaxies in the universe, compared to the number of galaxies expected according to popular theory.
According to the model proposed by the researchers, the special conditions that prevailed in primordial galaxies, namely the high density and low abundance of heavy elements, allowed star formation to be very efficient.
The research team from the Hebrew University’s Ratch Institute of Physics was led by Professor Avishai Dekel, along with Kartik Sarkar, Yuval Birenboim, Nir Mandelker and Zaochow Li.
“Since the first half-billion years ago, researchers have identified galaxies that each contain about ten billion stars like our Sun,” said Professor Decl. Galaxies, to suggest the need for critical changes in the paradigm. The cosmic standard of the Big Bang.
In this study, Prof. Decl and his team proposed a process called “feedback-free starburst” (FFB), which naturally explains the mystery. Under the unique conditions prevailing in early galaxies, the gas efficiently transforms into stars undisturbed by feedback processes.
Before the gas was enriched with heavy elements produced by stars, the researchers suggested that the density of star formation in the early, dense universe was above a threshold that would allow the gas to rapidly collapse into stars. In the million-year window of opportunity.
“The publication of this research marks an important step in our understanding of the formation of massive primordial galaxies in the universe and will undoubtedly stimulate further research and discoveries,” concludes Professor Decl.
