MSGID: 1:317/3 63f83d6a   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
    Discovery of massive early galaxies defies prior understanding of the   
   universe    
      
     Date:   
         February 23, 2023   
     Source:   
         Penn State   
     Summary:   
         Six massive galaxies discovered in the early universe are upending   
         what scientists previously understood about the origins of galaxies   
         in the universe.   
      
      
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   FULL STORY   
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   Six massive galaxies discovered in the early universe are upending   
   what scientists previously understood about the origins of galaxies in   
   the universe.   
      
      
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   "These objects are way more massive? than anyone expected," said Joel   
   Leja, assistant professor of astronomy and astrophysics at Penn State,   
   who modeled light from these galaxies. "We expected only to find tiny,   
   young, baby galaxies at this point in time, but we've discovered galaxies   
   as mature as our own in what was previously understood to be the dawn of   
   the universe."  Using the first dataset released from NASA's James Webb   
   Space Telescope, the international team of scientists discovered objects   
   as mature as the Milky Way when the universe was only 3% of its current   
   age, about 500-700 million years after the Big Bang. The telescope is   
   equipped with infrared-sensing instruments capable of detecting light   
   that was emitted by the most ancient stars and galaxies. Essentially,   
   the telescope allows scientists to see back in time roughly 13.5 billion   
   years, near the beginning of the universe as we know it, Leja explained.   
      
   "This is our first glimpse back this far, so it's important that we   
   keep an open mind about what we are seeing," Leja said. "While the data   
   indicates they are likely galaxies, I think there is a real possibility   
   that a few of these objects turn out to be obscured supermassive black   
   holes. Regardless, the amount of mass we discovered means that the known   
   mass in stars at this period of our universe is up to 100 times greater   
   than we had previously thought. Even if we cut the sample in half, this   
   is still an astounding change."  In a paper published today (Feb. 22)   
   in Nature, the researchers show evidence that the six galaxies are far   
   more massive than anyone expected and call into question what scientists   
   previously understood about galaxy formation at the very beginning of   
   the universe.   
      
   "The revelation that massive galaxy formation began extremely early   
   in the history of the universe upends what many of us had thought was   
   settled science," said Leja. "We've been informally calling these objects   
   'universe breakers' -- and they have been living up to their name so far."   
   Leja explained that the galaxies the team discovered are so massive that   
   they are in tension with 99% percent of models for cosmology. Accounting   
   for such a high amount of mass would require either altering the models   
   for cosmology or revising the scientific understanding of galaxy formation   
   in the early universe -- that galaxies started as small clouds of stars   
   and dust that gradually grew larger over time. Either scenario requires   
   a fundamental shift in our understanding of how the universe came to be,   
   he added.   
      
   "We looked into the very early universe for the first time and had no idea   
   what we were going to find," Leja said. "It turns out we found something   
   so unexpected it actually creates problems for science. It calls the   
   whole picture of early galaxy formation into question."  On July 12,   
   NASA released the first full-color images and spectroscopic data from   
   the James Webb Space Telescope. The largest infrared telescope in space,   
   Webb was designed to see the genesis of the cosmos, its high resolution   
   allowing it to view objects too old, distant or faint for the Hubble   
   Space Telescope.   
      
   "When we got the data, everyone just started diving in and these massive   
   things popped out really fast," Leja said. "We started doing the modeling   
   and tried to figure out what they were, because they were so big and   
   bright. My first thought was we had made a mistake and we would just find   
   it and move on with our lives. But we have yet to find that mistake,   
   despite a lot of trying."  Leja explained that one way to confirm the   
   team's finding and alleviate any remaining concerns would be to take a   
   spectrum image of the massive galaxies.   
      
   That would provide the team data on the true distances, and also the   
   gasses and other elements that made up the galaxies. The team could then   
   use the data to model a clearer of picture of what the galaxies looked   
   like, and how massive they truly were.   
      
   "A spectrum will immediately tell us whether or not these things are   
   real," Leja said. "It will show us how big they are, how far away they   
   are. What's funny is we have all these things we hope to learn from James   
   Webb and this was nowhere near the top of the list. We've found something   
   we never thought to ask the universe -- and it happened way faster than I   
   thought, but here we are."  The other co-authors on the paper are Elijah   
   Mathews and Bingjie Wang of Penn State, Ivo Labbe of the Swinburne   
   University of Technology, Pieter van Dokkum of Yale University, Erica   
   Nelson of the University of Colorado, Rachel Bezanson of the University   
   of Pittsburgh, Katherine A. Suess of the University of California and   
   Stanford University, Gabriel Brammer of the University of Copenhagen,   
   Katherine Whitaker of the University of Massachusetts and the University   
   of Copenhagen, and Mauro Stefanon of the Universitat de Valencia.   
      
       * RELATED_TOPICS   
             o Space_&_Time   
                   # Galaxies # Astrophysics # Cosmology # Big_Bang # NASA #   
                   Space_Telescopes # Astronomy # Space_Exploration   
       * RELATED_TERMS   
             o Galaxy_formation_and_evolution o Galaxy o   
             Shape_of_the_Universe o Hubble_Deep_Field o   
             Large-scale_structure_of_the_cosmos o Dark_matter o   
             Ultimate_fate_of_the_universe o Astrophysics   
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Story Source: Materials provided by Penn_State. Original written by   
   Adrienne Berard. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.   
      
      
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   Related Multimedia:   
       *   
       Six_candidate_massive_galaxies,_seen_500-700_million_years_after_the_Big   
         Bang   
   ==========================================================================   
   Journal Reference:   
      1. Ivo Labbe', Pieter van Dokkum, Erica Nelson, Rachel Bezanson,   
      Katherine   
         A. Suess, Joel Leja, Gabriel Brammer, Katherine Whitaker, Elijah   
         Mathews, Mauro Stefanon, Bingjie Wang. A population of red candidate   
         massive galaxies ~600 Myr after the Big Bang. Nature, 2023; DOI:   
         10.1038/s41586- 023-05786-2   
   ==========================================================================   
      
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/02/230223181829.htm   
      
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