Webb Finds Proto-Globular Clusters in Early Universe

Jun 24, 2024 by News Staff

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have spotted at least five young globular clusters within SPT 0615-JD1 (also known as the Cosmic Gems arc), a strongly-lensed galaxy that existed when the Universe was 460 million years old.



These images show the galaxy cluster SPT-CL J0615-5746 (right) and a portion of this cluster (left) showing two distinct lensed galaxies. The Cosmic Gems arc is shown with several galaxy clusters. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Webb / L. Bradley, STScI / A. Adamo, Stockholm University / Cosmic Spring Collaboration.



“These galaxies are thought to be a prime source of the intense radiation that reionized the early Universe,” said Dr. Angela Adamo, an astronomer at Stockholm University and the Oskar Klein Centre.
“What is special about the Cosmic Gems arc is that thanks to gravitational lensing we can actually resolve the galaxy down to parsec scales.”

SPT 0615-JD1 was initially discovered in Hubble images obtained by the RELICS (Reionization Lensing Cluster Survey) program of the lensing galaxy cluster SPT-CL J0615-5746, which is located approximately 7.7 billion light-years away in the constellation of Pictor.

With Webb, Dr. Adamo and colleagues can now see where stars formed and how they are distributed, in a similar way to how Hubble is used to study local galaxies.
Webb’s view provides a unique opportunity to study star formation and the inner workings of infant galaxies at such an unprecedented distance.

“Webb’s incredible sensitivity and angular resolution at near-infrared wavelengths, combined with gravitational lensing provided by the massive foreground galaxy cluster, enabled this discovery. No other telescope could have made this discovery,” said Dr. Larry Bradley, an astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute

More:
https://www.sci.news/astronomy/webb-proto-globular-clusters-early-universe-13043.html