James Webb has found a galaxy more than 13 billion light-years away, likely the progenitor of the great spirals
27 Feb
2024
– 5:34 p.m
(updated at 21:33)
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has been studying the Firefly Sparkle galaxy, located more than 13 billion years from Earth. By observing its light when the universe was only 600 million years old, more clues about the growth of our own Milky Way have been revealed.
Photo: Mowla et al. / Canaltech
When the universe was only about 5% of its current age, the Firefly Sparkle galaxy was in the early stages of formation, with more than half of its mass concentrated in 10 star clusters. The mass of these clusters ranges from 200,000 to 630,000 solar masses.
According to the study’s authors, this represents “the boundary between low-mass galaxies and high-mass globular clusters.” These groups of stars in Firefly Sparkle also vary in age, suggesting bursts of star formation at different times but occurring at essentially the same time.
“The age of the clusters suggests that they are gravitationally bound to the star formation history, indicating a recent star explosion,” the authors said. One possibility is that these star formations were triggered by an interaction with a neighboring galaxy called Firefly Best Friend (BF). It is only 2 kpcs (kiloparsecs) away, or 6,524 light years.
Nearby is another galaxy called Firefly New Best Friend (NBF). It is 13 kpcs away from Firefly Sparkle, making the BF the best candidate for triggering bursts of star formation there.
Among the clusters in the galaxy is a central group with a temperature of 40,000 K and a high initial mass, suggesting formation in a metal-poor environment. These features are evidence that Firefly Sparkle would likely become a Milky Way-like galaxy in our present time.
Compared with supercomputer simulations, the results were consistent with currently accepted mathematical models. However, although many clusters in Firefly Sparkle can survive and expand, others will be torn apart by gravitational forces.
According to the authors of the study, when destroyed, the clusters should form a stellar disk and a halo of galaxies. “The only way to survive is to drive them far away, away from the dense tidal field of the galaxy. Those that are expelled may persist as globular clusters.
The research article was published in arXiv.org and has not yet been reviewed.
Source: arXiv.org, Universe Today
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