A treasure trove of molecules has emerged in two galaxies that we see as they existed 12 billion years ago, revealing information about how ancient universes formed stars.
APM 08279+5255, one of the distant galaxies quasar – active supermassive black hole The other galaxy, NCv1.143, is a more “normal” galaxy, with large amounts of gas engulfed in its core. However, both appear to occur stars With terrifying speed, hundreds of times more stars Milky Way galaxy currently producing.
The two galaxies were targeted by astronomers using the Northern Extended Millimeter Array NOEMA in France. NOEMA can detect millimeter and submillimeter radio waves. Surprisingly, the team led by Chentao Yang from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden detected emissions from 13 different molecules in these two galaxies.
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“We are seeing some of that. electromagnetic spectrum “This is difficult to observe in nearby galaxies,” Yang said in a press release. expansion of the universeLight from distant galaxies like this shifts to longer wavelengths that we can see with observing radio telescopes. [at] submillimeter [wavelengths]”
The discovery constitutes the largest collection of molecules ever detected in galaxies at such great distances (galaxies currently number about 20 billion). light years moving away and getting further away due to cosmic expansion).
The 13 different types of molecules detected include carbon monoxide, carbon monosulfide, cyano radical (a radical is an unpaired molecule). electron in the outer shell of one of its constituent atoms), formyl cation (a cation is a positively charged ion), hydrogen cyanide, hydrogen isocyanide, nitric oxide and water. Yang’s team also detected five never-before-seen molecules in the early universe: Cyclopropenylidene (a highly reactive organic molecule also found in the universe). Saturn‘S moon Titan), diazenylium (consisting of molecular nitrogen and a hydrogen ion), organic molecule ethynyl radicals, hydronium ions (consisting of a water molecule and a hydrogen ion), and methylidine radicals (a highly reactive organic molecule).
All of these molecules are common in the interstellar gas in our Milky Way galaxy, and each provides clues about the environment in which they are found; An environment where we see many stars forming.
“We knew that these galaxies were magnificent star factories, perhaps among the largest galaxies the universe has ever seen,” Yang said.
The team also found that the quasar in APM 08279+5255 contains more excited molecular gas with higher temperature and density than NCv1.143 as a whole; this is perhaps a result of activity around the quasar’s black hole. Its molecular abundance is similar to active galaxies. black holes in the more modern universe. Similarly, the molecular inventory of NCv1.143 resembles that of local starburst galaxies; these are galaxies that give birth to many stars, such as the Cigar Galaxy (Messier 82) in the constellation. Ursa Major, Big Bear. It appears that the chemistry of such galaxies was already present 12 billion years ago.
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But not everything is the same. The strength of the emissions from some molecules such as carbon dioxide, combined with the extreme conditions in the star-forming gas of the two galaxies, suggests what is called a “top-heavy initial mass function.” The initial mass function, or IMF, describes how many stars of a given mass can form; low-mass stars are much more common than high-mass stars. A top-heavy IMF implies that more massive stars could have formed in the early universe than can be formed today. This may not only explain why galaxies in the early universe are detected by celestial bodies. James Webb Space Telescope They are brighter than expected (containing more massive, brighter stars) but also indicate the presence of more massive stars. supernovae will accelerate the development of chemistry in these galaxies by dispersing heavy elements space.
“The most remarkable galaxies in the early universe are finally able to tell their stories through their molecules,” said co-author Pierre Cox of Sorbonne University in France.
The findings were published December 14 in the journal. Astronomy and Astrophysics.