Oxygen discovered in most distant known galaxy
Astronomers detected oxygen in the distant galaxy JADES-GS-z14-0, 13.4 billion light-years away, suggesting it is more chemically mature than expected, challenging theories on galaxy formation and evolution.
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Astronomers have detected oxygen in the most distant known galaxy, JADES-GS-z14-0, using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). This galaxy, discovered last year, is located 13.4 billion light-years away, allowing scientists to observe it as it existed when the Universe was less than 300 million years old. The presence of oxygen suggests that JADES-GS-z14-0 is more chemically mature than previously anticipated, containing about ten times more heavy elements than expected for a galaxy of its age. This finding challenges existing theories about galaxy formation, indicating that galaxies may evolve more rapidly than previously thought. The oxygen detection has also improved distance measurements to the galaxy, achieving a precision of 0.005 percent. This collaboration between ALMA and the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) highlights the importance of using multiple observational tools to enhance our understanding of early galaxy evolution. The results from two separate studies will be published in The Astrophysical Journal and Astronomy & Astrophysics, contributing to a growing body of evidence that galaxies formed and matured much faster in the early Universe than previously believed.
- Oxygen has been detected in the most distant known galaxy, JADES-GS-z14-0.
- The galaxy is located 13.4 billion light-years away, observed as it was 300 million years after the Big Bang.
- JADES-GS-z14-0 contains about ten times more heavy elements than expected for its age.
- The findings suggest galaxies may form and mature more rapidly than previously thought.
- The collaboration between ALMA and JWST enhances the precision of distance measurements to distant galaxies.
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- Many commenters express skepticism about the significance of finding oxygen, suggesting it is expected in distant galaxies.
- Some highlight the implications of this finding for our understanding of galaxy formation and the early universe.
- There are discussions about the methods used to detect oxygen and the confidence in the results.
- Several commenters emphasize the abundance of oxygen and hydrogen in the universe, questioning the surprise over this discovery.
- Criticism is directed at those who second-guess scientists and the research process.
17 commentsWhich one is more likely? Are there assumptions or parameters in our model for the age of the universe that could be inaccurate?
I thought oxygen detection was extremely difficult, they must have better methods now.
adding:
https://news.arizona.edu/news/how-next-gen-telescopes-could-...
No one needs to read your post fessing up to your profound ignorance and the fact that you didn't really read the link.
Hydrogen is everywhere.
The possibilities are interesting.
- Is the big bang theory the scientific consensus on the origin and evolution of the universe ?
- What are the alternatives ?
This is interesting but at same time oxygen is the third most abundant element so it’s not surprising to find it, I suppose. Neat anyway.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_microwave_background#Pr...
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