Researchers M. Lopez-Corredoira and C. M. Gutierrez, affiliated with the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, have published a study that delves into the age of galaxies observed by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Their work, titled “Improved measurements of the age of JWST galaxies at z=6-10,” offers insights that could have implications for our understanding of the early universe and, by extension, the energy sector’s exploration of alternative fuels and technologies.
The study focuses on 31 galaxies with an average redshift of 7.3, indicating they are observed as they were about 13 billion years ago, roughly 700 million years after the Big Bang. These galaxies were selected for their distinct spectral energy distributions, which exhibit large Balmer and Lyman-alpha breaks. The researchers utilized data from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), JWST’s Near-infrared Camera (NIRCam), Near-infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec), and Mid-infrared Instrument (MIRI) to analyze these galaxies.
By employing sophisticated spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting techniques, the team accounted for various factors such as old and young stellar populations, emission lines from HII regions, active galactic nuclei (AGN), interstellar dust extinction, and intergalactic extinction from neutral hydrogen. Their analysis revealed that, on average, the contribution of AGN in these galaxies is small, although significant for a few of the 31 galaxies. The average age of the galaxies was determined to be 0.61 ± 0.31 billion years, with the oldest galaxies forming at a redshift greater than 11.2.
One particularly intriguing finding is that one of the very red galaxies appears to be older than the age of the universe within the standard cosmological model, presenting a tension that cannot be explained by current models of thermally pulsing asymptotic giant branch (TP-AGB) stars. However, the researchers caution that this result is provisional and further research is needed to confirm it.
For the energy sector, understanding the age and formation of these early galaxies can provide insights into the evolution of the universe and the processes that led to the formation of stars and galaxies. This knowledge can inform the search for alternative energy sources and the development of technologies that harness the power of nuclear fusion, which is the process that powers stars. Additionally, studying the early universe can help scientists better understand the fundamental laws of physics and the nature of dark matter and dark energy, which could have implications for the development of new energy technologies.
The research was published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.
This article is based on research available at arXiv.