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   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
    Webb Space Telescope detects universe's most distant complex organic   
   molecules    
      
     Date:   
         June 5, 2023   
     Source:   
         University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, News Bureau   
     Summary:   
         Researchers have detected complex organic molecules in a galaxy more   
         than 12 billion light-years away from Earth -- the most distant   
         galaxy in which these molecules are now known to exist. Thanks   
         to the capabilities of the recently launched James Webb Space   
         Telescope and careful analyses from the research team, a new study   
         lends critical insight into the complex chemical interactions that   
         occur in the first galaxies in the early universe.   
      
      
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   FULL STORY   
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   Researchers have detected complex organic molecules in a galaxy more   
   than 12 billion light-years away from Earth -- the most distant galaxy in   
   which these molecules are now known to exist. Thanks to the capabilities   
   of the recently launched James Webb Space Telescope and careful analyses   
   from the research team, a new study lends critical insight into the   
   complex chemical interactions that occur in the first galaxies in the   
   early universe.   
      
   University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign astronomy and physics professor   
   Joaquin Vieira and graduate student Kedar Phadke collaborated with   
   researchers at Texas A&M University and an international team of   
   scientists to differentiate between infrared signals generated by some   
   of the more massive and larger dust grains in the galaxy and those of   
   the newly observed hydrocarbon molecules.   
      
   The study findings are published in the journal Nature.   
      
   "This project started when I was in graduate school studying   
   hard-to-detect, very distant galaxies obscured by dust," Vieira   
   said. "Dust grains absorb and re-emit about half of the stellar radiation   
   produced in the universe, making infrared light from distant objects   
   extremely faint or undetectable through ground-based telescopes."   
   In the new study, the JWST received a boost from what the researchers   
   call "nature's magnifying glass" -- a phenomenon called gravitational   
   lensing. "This magnification happens when two galaxies are almost   
   perfectly aligned from the Earth's point of view, and light from the   
   background galaxy is warped and magnified by the foreground galaxy into   
   a ring-like shape, known as an Einstein ring," Vieira said.   
      
   The team focused the JWST on SPT0418-47 -- an object discovered using   
   the National Science Foundation's South Pole Telescope and previously   
   identified as a dust-obscured galaxy magnified by a factor of about 30   
   to 35 by gravitational lensing. SPT0418-47 is 12 billion light-years   
   from Earth, corresponding to a time when the universe was less than 1.5   
   billion years old, or about 10% of its current age, the researchers said.   
      
   "Before having access to the combined power of gravitational lensing   
   and the JWST, we could neither see nor spatially resolve the actual   
   background galaxy through all of the dust," Vieira said.   
      
   Spectroscopic data from the JWST suggest that the obscured interstellar   
   gas in SPT0418-47 is enriched in heavy elements, indicating that   
   generations of stars have already lived and died. The specific compound   
   the researchers detected is a type of molecule called polycyclic aromatic   
   hydrocarbon, or PAH. On Earth, these molecules can be found in the exhaust   
   produced by combustion engines or forest fires. Being comprised of carbon   
   chains, these organic molecules are considered the basic building blocks   
   for the earliest forms of life, the researchers said.   
      
   "What this research is telling us right now -- and we are still learning   
   -- is that we can see all of the regions where these smaller dust grains   
   are located -- regions that we could never see before the JWST," Phadke   
   said. "The new spectroscopic data lets us observe the galaxy's atomic   
   and molecular composition, providing very important insights into the   
   formation of galaxies, their lifecycle and how they evolve."  "We didn't   
   expect this," Vieira said. "Detecting these complex organic molecules at   
   such a vast distance is game-changing regarding future observations. This   
   work is just the first step, and we're just now learning how to use it and   
   learn its capabilities. We are very excited to see how this plays out."   
   "It's extremely cool that galaxies I discovered while writing my thesis   
   would one day be observed by the JWST," Vieira said. "I am grateful to   
   the U.S.   
      
   taxpayers, the NSF and NASA for funding and supporting both the SPT and   
   the JWST. Without these instruments, this discovery could have never   
   been made."  Vieira also is the director of the Center for AstroPhysical   
   Surveys, funded by the National Center for Supercomputing Applications   
   at Illinois. Phadke is a CAPS graduate fellow.   
      
   The Space Telescope Science Institute operates the JWST under the   
   management of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy,   
   Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-03127.   
      
       * RELATED_TOPICS   
             o Space_&_Time   
                   # Galaxies # Astrophysics # Astronomy # Space_Telescopes #   
                   Cosmology # NASA # Space_Exploration # Extrasolar_Planets   
       * RELATED_TERMS   
             o Spitzer_space_telescope o Galaxy o Milky_Way o   
             Andromeda_Galaxy o Galaxy_formation_and_evolution o   
             Planetary_nebula o Hubble_Deep_Field o Globular_cluster   
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Story Source: Materials provided by   
   University_of_Illinois_at_Urbana-Champaign,_News_Bureau.   
      
   Original written by Lois Yoksoulian. Note: Content may be edited for   
   style and length.   
      
      
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   Journal Reference:   
      1. Justin S. Spilker, Kedar A. Phadke, Manuel Aravena, Melanie   
      Archipley,   
         Matthew B. Bayliss, Jack E. Birkin, Matthieu Be'thermin, James   
         Burgoyne, Jared Cathey, Scott C. Chapman, Haakon Dahle, Anthony   
         H. Gonzalez, Gayathri Gururajan, Christopher C. Hayward, Yashar   
         D. Hezaveh, Ryley Hill, Taylor A. Hutchison, Keunho J. Kim, Seonwoo   
         Kim, David Law, Ronan Legin, Matthew A. Malkan, Daniel P. Marrone,   
         Eric J. Murphy, Desika Narayanan, Alex Navarre, Grace M. Olivier,   
         Jeffrey A. Rich, Jane R.   
      
         Rigby, Cassie Reuter, James E. Rhoads, Keren Sharon, J. D. T. Smith,   
         Manuel Solimano, Nikolaus Sulzenauer, Joaquin D. Vieira, David   
         Vizgan, Axel Weiss, Katherine E. Whitaker. Spatial variations in   
         aromatic hydrocarbon emission in a dust-rich galaxy. Nature, 2023;   
         DOI: 10.1038/ s41586-023-05998-6   
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   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/06/230605181233.htm   
      
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