A bar-shaped structure found in a galaxy more than 8 billion years old! Analysis of observational data from the James Webb Space Telescope | sorae portal site to space

A research team led by Yuchen Guo, a graduate student at the University of Texas at Austin, has announced research results showing that a spiral galaxy with a bar-shaped structure already existed in the early universe about 11 billion years ago. The research team used observational data obtained with the James Webb Space Telescope.

These are two images of the galaxy EGS-23205 from about 10.7 billion years ago (redshift z = about 2.136). The image on the left shows EGS-23205 taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. Although it appears to have a disk-like structure, it is unclear whether it has a rod-like structure. On the other hand, the image on the right, taken by the Webb Space Telescope, shows it to be a spiral galaxy with a bar-shaped structure running through the center of the galaxy and its curved spiral arm.

The research team examined hundreds of galaxies in data collected by the international research team, the Cosmic Evolutionary Early Publishing Survey (CEERS), using the Webb Space Telescope, to identify possible bar-like structures. Dozens of galaxies were visually selected for analysis. As a result, a total of 6 galaxies with bar-shaped structures that existed more than 8 billion years ago were found, such as the galaxy EGS-24268 (z = about 2.312) about 11 billion years ago and the EGS-23205 mentioned above. It is said to have been found.

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【▲ Six galaxies from more than 8 billion years ago where bar-like structures have been found. From the preliminary version of the paper (Credit: Guo et al.)】

The structure of spiral galaxies is thought to have played an important role in the evolution of galaxies by transporting gas, the material of stars, to the central regions of galaxies. Professor Sharda Joji of the University of Texas at Austin, who was involved in the study, explained the workings of the rod-shaped structure by comparing it to a supply chain.

“Like transporting raw materials for products from ports to inland factories, girder structures forcefully transport gas into the central region of the galaxy, where the gas is 10 to 100 times more potent than the rest of the galaxy. The gas is being converted into new stars at a rapid pace,” says Jogee.

Jogee points out that the discovery of rod-like structures in galaxies in the early universe means that new pathways that accelerated star formation in early galaxies have been added to the evolutionary model of galaxies. The research team will continue with the analysis in order to correctly predict the abundance of rod-like structures.

Source

• Image credit: NASA/CEERS/University of Texas at Austin, Guo et al.
• Utah Austin The James Webb Telescope reveals Milky Way-like galaxies in the young universe
• Guo et al. – first look at z > 1 Bars in the near-infrared resting frame using JWST Early CEERS Imaging (arXiv)

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