Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have discovered CEERS-2112, the most distant barred spiral galaxy ever observed. This challenges previous assumptions about galaxy evolution and suggests that galaxies became ordered more quickly than previously believed, potentially leading to changes in theoretical models of galaxy formation. be.
A research team including astronomers from the University of California, Riverside, james webb space telescope.
An international team including astronomer Alexander de la Vega of the University of California, Riverside (UCR) used the James Webb Space Telescope to discover the most distant barred spiral galaxy resembling a galaxy. milky way It has been observed to this day.
Until now, it was thought that barred spiral galaxies like the Milky Way would not be observable until the universe, estimated to be 13.8 billion years old, was half its current age.
Research published in journals Nature This week it was led by scientists from Spain’s Astrobiologia Center.
“This galaxy, named Ceers-2112, formed shortly after the birth of the Earth. big bang” said co-author de la Vega, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. “The discovery of CEERS-2112 shows that galaxies in the early universe may be as ordered as the Milky Way. In the early universe, galaxies were more chaotic and may have a similar structure to the Milky Way. This is surprising because they had very little.”
Understanding the Galaxy Bar
There is a bar in the center of Ceers-2112. De la Vega explained that galactic bars are structures made of stars within a galaxy. Galaxy bars are similar to bars in our everyday life, such as candy bars. It’s possible to find bars in non-spiral galaxies, but it’s extremely rare, he said.
“Almost all bars are found in spiral galaxies,” said de la Vega, who joined UCR last year after earning a doctorate in astronomy from Johns Hopkins University. “The ceers-2112 bar suggests that galaxies matured and became ordered much faster than previously thought. This suggests that some of our theories about galaxy formation and evolution This means that aspects of this require modification.”
![Spiral bar galaxy Ceers-2112](https://scitechdaily.com/images/Spiral-Barred-Galaxy-Ceers-2112-777x511.jpg 777w,https://scitechdaily.com/images/Spiral-Barred-Galaxy-Ceers-2112-400x263.jpg 400w,https://scitechdaily.com/images/Spiral-Barred-Galaxy-Ceers-2112-768x505.jpg 768w,https://scitechdaily.com/images/Spiral-Barred-Galaxy-Ceers-2112.jpg 1400w)
Artistic representation of CEERS-2112, a spiral barred galaxy observed in the early universe. The Earth is reflected in the phantom bubble surrounding the galaxy, reminding us of the relationship between the Milky Way and CEERS-2112. Credit: Luca Costantin/CAB/CSIC-INTA
Astronomers’ previous understanding of galaxy evolution was that it took billions of years for galaxies to gain enough order to develop bars.
“The discovery of CEERS-2112 shows that this could happen within about a billion years, or even less,” de la Vega said.
He said galactic bars are thought to form in spiral galaxies with regularly rotating stars, similar to the Milky Way.
“In such galaxies, bars could form spontaneously due to instability in the spiral structure or gravitational effects from neighboring galaxies,” de la Vega said. “In the past, when the universe was very young, galaxies were unstable and chaotic. It was thought that galaxies in the early universe did not form bars and could not survive for long.”
Meaning and contribution of the discovery
The discovery of ceers-2112 is expected to change at least two aspects of astronomy.
![alexander de la vega](https://scitechdaily.com/images/Alexander-de-la-Vega-768x1024.jpg 768w,https://scitechdaily.com/images/Alexander-de-la-Vega-300x400.jpg 300w,https://scitechdaily.com/images/Alexander-de-la-Vega-1152x1536.jpg 1152w,https://scitechdaily.com/images/Alexander-de-la-Vega-1536x2048.jpg 1536w,https://scitechdaily.com/images/Alexander-de-la-Vega.jpg 1620w)
Alexander de la Vega is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Riverside.Credit: Alexander de la Vega, University of California, Riverside
“First, theoretical models of galaxy formation and evolution need to account for some galaxies that were stable enough to form bars very early in the history of the universe,” de la Vega said. “Dark matter is thought to influence the rate of bar formation, so these models may need to adjust the amount of dark matter that makes up galaxies in the early universe. Second, ceers The discovery of -2112 shows that bar-like structures can be detected when the Universe is very young. This is because galaxies in the distant past were smaller than they are today, making bars difficult to spot. Important: The discovery of ceers-2112 paves the way for the discovery of many more bars in this young universe.”
Dela Vega assisted the research team with estimating the redshift and properties of CEERS-2112. He also contributed to the interpretation of the measurements.
“Redshift is an observable property of a galaxy that tells us how far away it is and how far back in time it can be seen. This is a result of the finite speed of light,” he said. Stated.
What surprised de la Vega most about the discovery of ceers-2112 was how well the bar’s properties were constrained.
“We initially thought that detecting and estimating the properties of bars in galaxies like CEERS-2112 would involve measurement uncertainties,” he said. “However, thanks to the capabilities of the James Webb Space Telescope and the expertise of our research team, we were able to place strong constraints on the size and shape of the bars.”
At UCR, de la Vega oversees astronomy outreach efforts. He plans telescope nights on and off campus and visits local schools to give presentations on astronomy. He also leads the public astronomy talk series “Cosmic Thursday” and one-off events for special occasions such as solar eclipse viewing parties.
The title of the research paper is “Milky Way-like barred spiral galaxy at redshift 3.”
References: “Barred spiral galaxies like the Milky Way at redshift 3” Luca Costantin, Pablo G. Pérez González, Yucheng Guo, Chiara Buttitta, Sharda Jogi, Michaela B. Bagley, Guillermo Baro, Ceyhan S. Cartaltepe, Anton M. Kekemore, Cristina Cabello, Enrico Maria Corsini, Jairo Méndez-Abreu, Alexander de la Vega, Karlteich G. Iyer, Laura Bisciguero, Inje. Chen, Lorenzo Morelli, Pablo Arrabal Haro, Fernando Buitrago, MC Cooper, Abishai Dekel, Mark Dickinson, Stephen L. Finkelstein, Mauro Javarisco, Benne W. Horverda, Mark Huertas. Company, Ray A. Lucas, Casey Papovich, Nor Pirschkar, Lise-Marie Sayre, Jesús Vega-Ferrero, Stin Weitz, LY Aaron Jung, November 8, 2023, Nature.
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06636-x