ALMA scientists detect signs of water in a galaxy far, far away
New study marks most distant detection of required element for life as we
know it in a regular star-forming galaxy

Date:
November 3, 2021
Source:
National Radio Astronomy Observatory
Summary:
Water has been detected in the most massive galaxy in the early
Universe.

Scientists studying SPT0311-58 found H20, along with carbon monoxide
in the galaxy, which is located nearly 12.88 billion light years
from Earth.

Detection of these two molecules in abundance suggests that the
molecular Universe was going strong shortly after the elements
were forged in early stars. The new research comprises the most
detailed study of molecular gas content of a galaxy in the early
Universe to date and the most distant detection of H20 in a regular
star-forming galaxy.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Water has been detected in the most massive galaxy in the early
Universe, according to new observations from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). Scientists studying SPT0311-58
found H20, along with carbon monoxide in the galaxy, which is located
nearly 12.88 billion light years from Earth. Detection of these two
molecules in abundance suggests that the molecular Universe was going
strong shortly after the elements were forged in early stars. The new
research comprises the most detailed study of molecular gas content of
a galaxy in the early Universe to date and the most distant detection
of H20 in a regular star-forming galaxy. The research is published in
The Astrophysical Journal.


========================================================================== SPT0311-58 is actually made up of two galaxies, and was first seen
by ALMA scientists in 2017 at its location, or time, in the Epoch of Reionization. This epoch occurred at a time when the Universe was just
780 million years old - - roughly 5-percent of its current age -- and
the first stars and galaxies were being born. Scientists believe that
the two galaxies may be merging, and that their rapid star formation
is not only using up their gas, or star-forming fuel, but that it may eventually evolve the pair into massive elliptical galaxies like those
seen in the Local Universe.

"Using high-resolution ALMA observations of molecular gas in the pair
of galaxies known collectively as SPT0311-58 we detected both water and
carbon monoxide molecules in the larger of the two galaxies. Oxygen and
carbon, in particular, are first-generation elements, and in the molecular forms of carbon monoxide and water, they are critical to life as we know
it," said Sreevani Jarugula, an astronomer at the University of Illinois
and the principal investigator on the new research. "This galaxy is the
most massive galaxy currently known at high redshift, or the time when
the Universe was still very young. It has more gas and dust compared to
other galaxies in the early Universe, which gives us plenty of potential opportunities to observe abundant molecules and to better understand
how these life-creating elements impacted the development of the early Universe." Water, in particular, is the third most abundant molecule
in the Universe after molecular hydrogen and carbon monoxide. Previous
studies of galaxies in the local and early Universe have correlated water emission and the far-infrared emission from dust. "The dust absorbs the ultraviolet radiation from the stars in the galaxy and re-emits it as far-infrared photons," said Jarugula. "This further excites the water molecules, giving rise to the water emission that scientists are able
to observe. In this case, it helped us to detect water emission in this
massive galaxy. This correlation could be used to develop water as a
tracer of star formation, which could then be applied to galaxies on a cosmological scale." Studying the first galaxies to form in the Universe
helps scientists to better understand the birth, growth, and evolution
of the Universe, and everything in it, including the Solar System and
Earth. "Early galaxies are forming stars at a rate thousands of times
that of the Milky Way, said Jarugula. "Studying the gas and dust content
of these early galaxies informs us of their properties, such as how many
stars are being formed, the rate at which gas is converted into stars,
how galaxies interact with each other and with the interstellar medium,
and more." According to Jarugula, there's plenty left to learn about SPT0311-58 and the galaxies of the early Universe. "This study not
only provides answers about where, and how far away, water can exist
in the Universe, but also has given rise to a big question: How has
so much gas and dust assembled to form stars and galaxies so early in
the Universe? The answer requires further study of these and similar star-forming galaxies to get a better understanding of the structural
formation and evolution of the early Universe." "This exciting
result, which shows the power of ALMA, adds to a growing collection of observations of the early Universe," said Joe Pesce, astrophysicist and
ALMA Program Director at the National Science Foundation.

"These molecules, important to life on Earth, are forming as soon
as they can, and their observation is giving us insight into the
fundamental processes of a Universe very much different from today's." ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
National_Radio_Astronomy_Observatory. Note: Content may be edited for
style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Sreevani Jarugula, Joaquin D.Vieira, Axel Weiss, Justin S. Spilker,
Manuel Aravena, Melanie Archipley, Matthieu Be'thermin, Scott
C. Chapman, Chenxing Dong, Thomas R. Greve, Kevin Harrington,
Christopher C. Hayward, Yashar Hezaveh, Ryley Hill, Katrina
C. Litke, Matthew A. Malkan, Daniel P. Marrone, Desika Narayanan,
Kedar A. Phadke, Cassie Reuter, Kaja M.

Rotermund. Molecular Line Observations in Two Dusty Star-Forming
Galaxies at z = 6.9. The Astrophysical Journal, 2021 [abstract] ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/11/211103084422.htm

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