Produced by: Tarun Mishra Designed by: Manoj Kumar
Researchers led by the University of Geneva identified three ultra-massive galaxies, each nearly as massive as the Milky Way, existing within the first billion years after the Big Bang.
Using the James Webb Space Telescope’s FRESCO program, which leverages the NIRCam/grism spectrograph, scientists could measure the accurate distances and stellar masses of these ancient galaxies.
Findings reveal that galaxies in the early universe formed stars far more efficiently than later models suggested, indicating rapid star-building processes in these massive galaxies.
Traditional models propose gradual galaxy growth within dark matter halos, where only about 20% of gas converts into stars. However, the efficient star formation seen in these early galaxies challenges this understanding.
Due to high dust content, which obscures visible light and gives a red hue in JWST images, these massive galaxies have been nicknamed “red monsters.” Their dust-heavy appearance made previous detection challenging.
The research team used JWST’s advanced capabilities to systematically analyse early galaxies, gaining insights into their formation and obtaining precise measurements for a range of galaxies from this epoch.
The findings raise questions about early-universe galaxy formation theories. The rapid star formation observed might indicate unique processes that allowed some galaxies to grow more quickly than expected.
Further observations with JWST and the Atacama Large Millimetre Array (ALMA) will delve deeper into understanding these “red monsters,” potentially uncovering larger samples and new insights into the universe’s early conditions.