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A new study published in Nature Astronomy, has observed some of the earliest galaxies using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). How is the result?
As is known, the James Webb Space Telescope has the ability to observe the era when galaxies first formed. The research team in Denmark aims to better understand how these galaxies form, evolve and what their composition is.
According to researchers, these galaxies are very old, most likely still in the process of formation.
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Youngest Observed Galaxy
Launching the page Universe Todayastronomers have long understood that the ratio between galaxies and heavy elements in the local universe appears to have remained constant for about the last 12 billion years, or about 5/6 of the age of the universe.
However, with the help of JWST, this view is starting to change. Very young galaxies, possibly still in the formation stage, show something different.
The young galaxies observed by JWST do not have the same ratio of stars to heavy elements as older galaxies.
This is due to the fact that young galaxies have not yet gone through the processes of star formation and star death that enrich gas clouds with metals. Metals in this context refer to elements heavier than hydrogen and helium.
Chemical Findings in Galaxies
So far, astronomers have made observations of 16 galaxies, including some of the youngest galaxies in the history of the universe.
The results of these observations show that these galaxies have amounts of chemicals (metals) that are only a quarter of those found in galaxies that formed at a more advanced stage in the development of the universe.
Researchers who observed this phenomenon concluded that today’s galaxies are still closely linked to the intergalactic medium. They constantly receive a stream of pure gas from this medium. This gas flow effectively reduces the abundance of metals in these galaxies.
In other words, these galaxies are still in the process of accumulating chemicals and have not experienced as many advanced processes of star formation and metal enrichment as more mature galaxies.
Patterns of Galactic Evolution
The study’s leader, Kasper Elm Heintz, explained that when analyzing the light from these first 16 galaxies, they saw that there were far fewer heavy elements present, compared to their stellar masses and the number of new stars they produced.
This finding also shows that the pattern of galaxy evolution in the universe has not always been in balance throughout the history of the universe.
Apart from that, this study also shows that the relationship between the number of stars formed and the number of heavy elements formed is not always constant or there are changes in this relationship.
“This is one of James Webb’s first observations on this topic, so we are still waiting to see what can be learned from the larger, more comprehensive observations that are being conducted,” said Elm Heintz.
The researchers also believe that JWST will provide more data, and lead to a clearer understanding of how galaxies and their initial structures began to form in the billions of years after the Big Bang.
Watch the video “James Webb Telescope Reveals the Beauty of Spiral Galaxy M51”
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2023-09-28 10:00:25
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