A massive galaxy that formed its stars at z ≈ 11
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A massive galaxy that formed its stars at z ≈ 11. / Glazebrook, Karl; Nanayakkara, Themiya; Schreiber, Corentin; Lagos, Claudia; Kawinwanichakij, Lalitwadee; Jacobs, Colin; Chittenden, Harry; Brammer, Gabriel; Kacprzak, Glenn G.; Labbe, Ivo; Marchesini, Danilo; Marsan, Z. Cemile; Oesch, Pascal A.; Papovich, Casey; Remus, Rhea Silvia; Tran, Kim Vy H.; Esdaile, James; Chandro-Gomez, Angel.
In: Nature, Vol. 628, No. 8007, 2024, p. 277-281.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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T1 - A massive galaxy that formed its stars at z ≈ 11
AU - Glazebrook, Karl
AU - Nanayakkara, Themiya
AU - Schreiber, Corentin
AU - Lagos, Claudia
AU - Kawinwanichakij, Lalitwadee
AU - Jacobs, Colin
AU - Chittenden, Harry
AU - Brammer, Gabriel
AU - Kacprzak, Glenn G.
AU - Labbe, Ivo
AU - Marchesini, Danilo
AU - Marsan, Z. Cemile
AU - Oesch, Pascal A.
AU - Papovich, Casey
AU - Remus, Rhea Silvia
AU - Tran, Kim Vy H.
AU - Esdaile, James
AU - Chandro-Gomez, Angel
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited 2024.
PY - 2024
Y1 - 2024
N2 - The formation of galaxies by gradual hierarchical co-assembly of baryons and cold dark matter halos is a fundamental paradigm underpinning modern astrophysics1,2 and predicts a strong decline in the number of massive galaxies at early cosmic times3–5. Extremely massive quiescent galaxies (stellar masses of more than 1011 M⊙) have now been observed as early as 1–2 billion years after the Big Bang6–13. These galaxies are extremely constraining on theoretical models, as they had formed 300–500 Myr earlier, and only some models can form massive galaxies this early12,14. Here we report on the spectroscopic observations with the JWST of a massive quiescent galaxy ZF-UDS-7329 at redshift 3.205 ± 0.005. It has eluded deep ground-based spectroscopy8, it is significantly redder than is typical and its spectrum reveals features typical of much older stellar populations. Detailed modelling shows that its stellar population formed around 1.5 billion years earlier in time (z ≈ 11) at an epoch when dark matter halos of sufficient hosting mass had not yet assembled in the standard scenario4,5. This observation may indicate the presence of undetected populations of early galaxies and the possibility of significant gaps in our understanding of early stellar populations, galaxy formation and the nature of dark matter.
AB - The formation of galaxies by gradual hierarchical co-assembly of baryons and cold dark matter halos is a fundamental paradigm underpinning modern astrophysics1,2 and predicts a strong decline in the number of massive galaxies at early cosmic times3–5. Extremely massive quiescent galaxies (stellar masses of more than 1011 M⊙) have now been observed as early as 1–2 billion years after the Big Bang6–13. These galaxies are extremely constraining on theoretical models, as they had formed 300–500 Myr earlier, and only some models can form massive galaxies this early12,14. Here we report on the spectroscopic observations with the JWST of a massive quiescent galaxy ZF-UDS-7329 at redshift 3.205 ± 0.005. It has eluded deep ground-based spectroscopy8, it is significantly redder than is typical and its spectrum reveals features typical of much older stellar populations. Detailed modelling shows that its stellar population formed around 1.5 billion years earlier in time (z ≈ 11) at an epoch when dark matter halos of sufficient hosting mass had not yet assembled in the standard scenario4,5. This observation may indicate the presence of undetected populations of early galaxies and the possibility of significant gaps in our understanding of early stellar populations, galaxy formation and the nature of dark matter.
U2 - 10.1038/s41586-024-07191-9
DO - 10.1038/s41586-024-07191-9
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 38354832
AN - SCOPUS:85189330024
VL - 628
SP - 277
EP - 281
JO - Nature Genetics
JF - Nature Genetics
SN - 1061-4036
IS - 8007
ER -
ID: 390402324