Tag

Early Universe

All articles tagged with #early universe

space7 hours ago•105 min saved

Nearby ravenous black hole mirrors early-universe feeding frenzy

Astronomers observe a supermassive black hole at the center of SDSS J110546.07+145202.4 (about 1.8 billion light-years away) in a rapid accretion phase, launching jets and causing a roughly 20-fold increase in radio brightness over about eight years. The behavior resembles the vigorous feeding seen in the early universe, providing a nearby laboratory to study extreme accretion physics and jet production. The finding, published in The Astrophysical Journal (May), suggests such rapidly changing radio galaxies could help fill gaps in our understanding of early galaxy growth, with future SKA surveys expected to identify more transients.

via Space|

#accretion #black-holes #early-universe

space1 day ago•104 min saved

Ancient quasar reveals rapid black hole growth in the universe’s infancy

Astronomers using ESA’s Euclid telescope identified 31 quasars dating to about 670 million years after the Big Bang, including the oldest quasar yet observed that shines with the light of roughly a trillion suns, helping explain how supermassive black holes grew so quickly and shedding light on the epoch of reionization; the findings, published in Astronomy & Astrophysics, come from Euclid’s Wide Survey which will map a large portion of the sky.

via Space|

#accretion-disk #black-hole #early-universe

space3 days ago•119 min saved

Euclid finds two ancient quasars, each shining with a trillion suns

The European Space Agency's Euclid space telescope has spotted 31 newly identified quasars dating to the universe's first 770 million years, including the two oldest known at redshifts 7.77 and 7.69, each radiating about a trillion suns. The discoveries, published in Astronomy & Astrophysics, double the number of quasars known from that era and shed light on how supermassive black holes formed so rapidly after the Big Bang. Euclid's wide-field survey will uncover hundreds more, helping create the largest 3D map of the universe and revealing how early galaxies and black holes evolved.

via Live Science|

#black-holes #early-universe #euclid-telescope

space8 days ago•12 min saved

Ancient galaxy defies early-growth limits, seen 290 million years after the Big Bang

JWST confirmed the galaxy JADES-GS-z14-0 at about z~14.3 (roughly 290 million years after the Big Bang), unusually large and bright for its age, and ALMA detected oxygen indicating heavy-element enrichment far earlier than models predicted—raising questions about how quickly the first galaxies assembled while not overturning the Big Bang framework.

via Space Daily|

#cosmology #early-universe #galaxies

space14 days ago•16 min saved

Webb uncovers the Big Wheel—a massive spiral galaxy just 2 billion years after the Big Bang

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope reveals a giant, rotating spiral disk galaxy nicknamed the Big Wheel at redshift 3.245, about two billion years after the Big Bang. With a stellar mass around 3.7×10^11 solar masses and a disk extending ~30 kiloparsecs, it rivals the largest nearby spirals and remains unusually ordered for its epoch, challenging standard galaxy-formation models. The kinematic data confirm rotation, and the dense environment may have aided rapid growth, suggesting multiple pathways for early disk formation and that the early universe hosted more complex structures than once thought.

via Space Daily|

#early-universe #galaxy-formation-models #giant-disk-galaxy

space16 days ago•98 min saved

Hubble uncovers a distant galaxy that pierced the early universe's hydrogen fog

The Hubble Space Telescope detected ultraviolet light from MXDFz4.4, a compact, star-forming galaxy at redshift 4.4, showing bursts of ionizing UV radiation from a dense cluster of hot, massive stars. This radiation helped ionize surrounding neutral hydrogen, offering a closer look at the Epoch of Reionization when the universe became transparent to ultraviolet light. The finding, supported by JWST observations that reveal the galaxy’s star-formation history, suggests that bursts from young star clusters in early galaxies played a major role in clearing the fog of neutral hydrogen in the early universe; the results appear in The Astrophysical Journal.

via Space|

#early-universe #epoch-of-reionization #hubble-space-telescope

science17 days ago•7 min saved

Baby Universe in High Definition: Clearest View Yet of the Cosmic Dawn

Astronomers using the Atacama Cosmology Telescope have produced the clearest image yet of the cosmic microwave background, revealing light from about 380,000 years after the Big Bang and mapping tiny temperature fluctuations that seeded the formation of galaxies. The improved data tighten constraints on cosmological parameters, including neutrino masses, and set the stage for future polarization measurements with the Simons Observatory, as researchers seek to connect early-Universe physics with observations of the modern cosmos.

via BBC Sky at Night Magazine|

#atacama-cosmology-telescope #cosmic-microwave-background #early-universe

science17 days ago•52 min saved

JWST uncovers galaxy-killing winds in the early universe, explaining why some galaxies died young

New JWST observations of the merging galaxy CRISTAL-02 show an enormous, star-formation–driven outflow ejecting gas faster than it forms stars, potentially exhausting the galaxy’s fuel in under 100 million years and explaining why some early massive galaxies stopped forming stars, a mechanism that may be widespread across cosmic history and inform cosmological models.

via Yahoo|

#cristal-02 #early-universe #galactic-winds

space19 days ago•83 min saved

Powerful winds from early galaxies revealed by Webb

New James Webb Space Telescope observations of the merging galaxy CRISTAL-02, about 1 billion years after the Big Bang, show an enormous gas outflow (~1.5 billion solar masses) and a star-formation rate of ~260 solar masses per year, while gas is being expelled at >500 solar masses per year. The winds, driven by rapid star formation and supernovae (and possibly aided by a black hole), can energize and disperse molecular gas, quenching star formation. If the outflow continues, the galaxy could exhaust its fuel in under 100 million years, offering a window into a widespread mechanism that could explain the abundance of quiescent galaxies in the early universe and inform cosmological simulations—and it hints at similar futures for galaxies like the Milky Way when they collide with Andromeda.

via Live Science|

#cristal-02 #early-universe #galactic-winds

space27 days ago•97 min saved

Ancient quasar flicker hints at rapid black hole growth in the early universe

Astronomers spotted a record-breaking quasar dating to 12.9 billion years ago that flickered about 20% over NEOWISE’s 14-year data, implying a very flattened accretion disk and suggesting supermassive black holes could mature and grow rapidly very early in cosmic history. The quasar’s luminosity is about 12 trillion suns, and the finding—reported in Nature Astronomy—bolsters theories of early black-hole formation, with researchers aiming to find even older quasars using JWST.

via Space|

#black-holes #early-universe #james-webb-space-telescope

space28 days ago•6 min saved

Ancient Flickering Quasar Reveals Early Growth of Supermassive Black Holes

Astronomers report the discovery of J0439+1634, the oldest known flickering quasar, whose light has traveled more than 13 billion years to Earth, dating to the cosmic dawn when the Universe was about 850 million years old. The quasar appears to host a pancake-shaped, surprisingly mature accretion disk feeding a supermassive black hole over 600 million solar masses, making it extremely bright. Multi-wavelength data, including NEOWISE infrared observations, show irregular flickering driven by variable gas inflow, providing direct clues about early black hole growth and enabling new mass-measurement approaches. The study suggests growth processes seen in nearby quasars were already in place early on, and future facilities like the Vera C. Rubin Observatory and the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will hunt for even earlier examples.

via ScienceAlert|

#accretion-disk #black-hole #cosmic-dawn

space29 days ago•95 min saved

JWST Reveals Galaxy-Killing Wind Behind Early Galaxies’ Rapid Demise

Using JWST and ALMA, astronomers observed the merging galaxy CRISTAL-02 about 1 billion years after the Big Bang and detected a powerful, high-velocity outflow that ejects cold gas far from the galaxy. This wind can strip the material needed to form new stars, and if it continues, CRISTAL-02 could be dead in under 50 million years, helping explain why many massive early galaxies stopped forming stars so quickly. The findings, published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters, suggest mergers and intense starbursts may have driven widespread galaxy-killing winds in the young universe.

via Space|

#cristal-02 #early-universe #galaxy-wind

science1 month ago•3 min saved

Cosmic Winds Devour Early Galaxies, JWST Reveals

JWST observations of the merging galaxy system CRISTAL-02 show a massive wind blowing out cold gas, rapidly quenching star formation and potentially turning early massive galaxies into “dead” systems within tens of millions of years, offering a simple explanation for the abundance of dead galaxies in the early universe.

via Futurism|

#early-universe #galactic-winds #galaxies

science1 month ago•11 min saved

Starburst winds may scorch early massive galaxies to death

Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope and ALMA observed CRISTAL-02, a massive galaxy in the early universe, shedding gas via a gigantic cold-gas plume driven by a wind. The wind, fueled by intense star formation likely triggered by a galactic collision, ejects gas faster than the galaxy can convert it into stars, potentially starving it of fuel in under 100 million years and producing a dead, star-formation-silent galaxy. This suggests that galactic winds from star formation—not just supermassive black holes—can kill large galaxies early on.

via The Conversation|

#cristal-02 #early-universe #galaxy-winds

science1 month ago•7 min saved

MeerKAT spots record-distance hydroxyl megamaser, peering into the early universe

South Africa's MeerKAT radio telescope detected the most distant hydroxyl megamaser yet observed—in a violently merging galaxy more than 8 billion light-years away—thanks to gravitational lensing and wide bandwidth. The rapid 5-hour detection showcases MeerKAT's capabilities and foreshadows many more such discoveries with the SKA and ngVLA, offering new insights into galaxy evolution and extreme star-forming environments in the early universe.

via The Conversation|

#early-universe #gravitational-lensing #hydroxyl-megamaser