James Webb Space Telescope spies earliest complex organic molecules in the universe

[Admin]

Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have detected the oldest known examples of complex organic molecules in the universe, a new study reports.

James Webb Space Telescope spies earliest complex organic molecules in the universe : Read more

 

[rod]

The space.com report says, "The molecules we found aren't simple things like water or carbon dioxide," study lead author Justin Spilker, an astronomer at Texas A&M University in College Station, told Space.com. "We're talking about big, floppy molecules with dozens or hundreds of atoms in them."...All in all, these new findings suggest that "it's possible for galaxies to form in overdrive," Spilker said. "The galaxy we studied is already just as massive, and its stars have formed just as much carbon and oxygen, as our own Milky Way, even though it's only a tenth the age."

My note, this report from Feb-2023 shows the redshift for SPT0418-47, z=4.225. Discovery of a Dusty, Chemically Mature Companion to a z 4 Starburst Galaxy in JWST ERS Data, https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2023ApJ...944L..36P/abstract “We report the discovery of two companion sources to a strongly lensed galaxy SPT0418-47 ("ring") at redshift 4.225, targeted by the JWST Early Release Science program.”

The light time or look back distance using cosmology calculators 12.262 Gyr, age of universe at z=4.225, 1.459 Gyr, and comoving radial distance for SPT0418-47 where it is assumed to be today, 24.380 Gly. Using H0 = 69 km/s/Mpc, space is assumed to be expanding 1.7204144E+00 or at least 1.72 x c velocity. Given the chemical enrichment reported for SPT0418-47, where is the zero-metal gas BB cosmology uses to explain the origin of early galaxies and Population III stars or the gas of the cosmic dark ages?

 

[murgatroyd]

Given the chemical enrichment reported for SPT0418-47, where is the zero-metal gas BB cosmology uses to explain the origin of early galaxies and Population III stars or the gas of the cosmic dark ages?

That would be my question, too. Perhaps one of the telescopes planned for deployment in coming years will be able to look back even further?

 

[billslugg]

The metal poor gasses disappeared earlier than current models predict. Metal poor gasses may coalesce faster or metal poor stars burn out faster than models predict.

 

[rod]

FYI, to be clear on my part, I am not looking at metal poor gas but zero-metal gas reports for the early universe model used in BB cosmology. There are reports on low metal or metal poor gas. Here is an interesting article from yesterday.

Early universe crackled with bursts of star formation, Webb Telescope shows

Among the most fundamental questions in astronomy is: How did the first stars and galaxies form? NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is already providing new insights into this question. One of the largest programs in Webb's first year of science is the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey, or...

phys.org

"Another element of the JADES program involves the search for the earliest galaxies that existed when the universe was less than 400 million years old. By studying these galaxies, astronomers can explore how star formation in the early years after the Big Bang was different from what is seen in current times."

Using cosmology calculators like https://lambda.gsfc.nasa.gov/toolbox/calculators.html or https://www.kempner.net/cosmic.php, I get z values ranging about 11-12 or larger for objects in the BB model where the age of the Universe <= 400 Myr. JWST has imaged some already, I am not aware of zero-metal gas reports.

 

[billslugg]

As I understand it, there was no "zero metal gas". The earliest hydrogen had small amounts of helium and lithium. Lithium is certainly a metal, I don't know if helium is defined as one.

 

[rod]

As I understand it, there was no "zero metal gas". The earliest hydrogen had small amounts of helium and lithium. Lithium is certainly a metal, I don't know if helium is defined as one.

Good point. I see metal-free gas used in various papers on NASA ADS system or pristine gas that describes H, He, and perhaps a bit of Li that is postulated to form Population III stars. The reports I see indicate that there is always some more metal found like N, C, or Fe, or whatever but not the pristine gas or metal-free term as I read in some of the papers. Example, JWST/NIRSpec Measurements of Extremely Low Metallicities in High Equivalent Width Lyman-α Emitters, https://arxiv.org/abs/2304.08511

 

[billslugg]

The papers say the earliest galaxies have a Lyman Alpha line "effective width" greater than 240 nm. This indicates "metal poor".

I can't find a definition of "effective width" anywhere. I can find that the pure hydrogen alpha line at 121.567 is only .1 nm wide and is a doublet with a 30% dip in the center. This due to spin orbit interaction.

I can find that the broadening of an emission line can be caused by scattering.

I'm basically stuck.

 

[rod]

The papers say the earliest galaxies have a Lyman Alpha line "effective width" greater than 240 nm. This indicates "metal poor".

I can't find a definition of "effective width" anywhere. I can find that the pure hydrogen alpha line at 121.567 is only .1 nm wide and is a doublet with a 30% dip in the center. This due to spin orbit interaction.

I can find that the broadening of an emission line can be caused by scattering.

I'm basically stuck.

Yes, I have trouble in this topic too I note this about metalicity reported for z=9.79, the solar value 0.6 is found and wiki shows 0.0134 for this metal value for the Sun, so more metal here

Astrophysicists confirm the faintest galaxy ever seen in the early universe, https://phys.org/news/2023-06-astrophysicists-faintest-galaxy-early-universe.html

ref - The nature of an ultra-faint galaxy in the cosmic dark ages seen with JWST, https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-05994-w, 17-May-2023.

"...low stellar mass (10^7.19 M⊙) and subsolar (≈0.6 Z⊙) gas-phase metallicity."

Metallicity - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

At least for z=9.79, some metals seen in the gas, not pristine gas.