[ad_1]
The James Webb Space Telescope Discovers Evidence of Supermassive Stars at the Beginning of the Universe
The Discovery of the First Evidence of Millions of Supermassive Stars
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has made a groundbreaking discovery in its first few months of orbit. The telescope has provided the first evidence that millions of supermassive stars up to 10,000 times the mass of the sun may be hiding at the dawn of the universe. The discovery was announced by the lead author of the study, Corinne Charbonnel, an astronomy professor at the University of Geneva in Switzerland.
Discovering the Celestial Monsters
Born just 440 million years after the Big Bang, the stars could shed light on how our universe was first seeded with heavy elements. Researchers, who dubbed the giant stars “celestial monsters,” published their findings May 5 in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics. The researchers found chemical traces of the gigantic stars inside globular clusters — clumps of tens of thousands to millions of tightly packed stars, many of which are among the most ancient to have ever formed in our universe.
Globular Clusters: A Window into the Earliest Years of Our Universe
Roughly 180 globular clusters dot our Milky Way galaxy and, because they are so old, serve astronomers The researchers believe that this elemental variety could be explained by the existence of supermassive stars. These cosmic giants, born in the denser conditions of the early universe, burned their fuel at much higher temperatures, producing heavier elements that subsequently “polluted” smaller infant stars.
Difficulty of Finding these Cosmic Giants
But finding these stars has proven difficult. Anywhere between 5,000 to 10,000 times the size of our sun, the fiery giants burned at temperatures of 135 million degrees Fahrenheit (75 million degrees Celsius). As bigger, brighter and hotter stars die out the fastest, these cosmic monsters have long since met their demise in extremely violent explosions called hypernovas.
The Search for the Remnants of the Ancient Monsters
To spot the scattered chemical residue of the ancient monsters, the researchers trained the JWST’s infrared camera on the galaxy GN-z11, which is one of the most distant and ancient galaxies ever discovered, sitting 13.3 billion light-years away from Earth. Different chemicals absorb and emit light at different frequencies, so by breaking down the light coming from different globular clusters found across GN-z11, the astronomers discovered that not only were its stars tightly packed, but they were also surrounded by high levels of nitrogen.
Conclusion
The results of this discovery have important implications for understanding the early universe and the creation of the heavy elements critical to the formation of planets like Earth. The researchers will look across more globular clusters in other galaxies to see if their discovery holds elsewhere.
FAQs
1. What is the James Webb Space Telescope?
The James Webb Space Telescope is a space-based observatory, developed through collaboration among the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).
2. What is a globular cluster?
A globular cluster is a spherical collection of stars that orbit around a galactic core.
3. What is the significance of finding these supermassive stars?
This discovery sheds light on how our universe was first seeded with heavy elements and has important implications for understanding the early universe and the creation of the heavy elements critical to the formation of planets like Earth.
4. What is the maximum lifespan of superstars?
The maximum lifespan of superstars is two million years.
5. How far away is galaxy GN-z11 from Earth?
Galaxy GN-z11 is sitting 13.3 billion light-years away from Earth.
[ad_2]
For more information, please refer this link