{"id":10785,"date":"2015-06-17T13:17:05","date_gmt":"2015-06-17T17:17:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=10785"},"modified":"2015-06-17T13:17:05","modified_gmt":"2015-06-17T17:17:05","slug":"eso-observational-evidence-of-first-generation-of-stars-in-the-early-universe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=10785","title":{"rendered":"ESO: Observational evidence of first generation of stars in the early universe"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here’s a new\u00a0ESO<\/a>\u00a0report:<\/p>\n

Best Observational Evidence of First Generation Stars in the Universe<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Astronomers using ESO\u2019s Very Large Telescope have discovered by far the brightest galaxy yet found in the early Universe and found strong evidence that examples of the first generation of stars lurk within it. These massive, brilliant, and previously purely theoretical objects were the creators of the first heavy elements in history \u2014 the elements necessary to forge the stars around us today, the planets that orbit them, and life as we know it. The newly found galaxy, labelled CR7, is three times brighter than the brightest distant galaxy known up to now.<\/p>\n

\"This<\/a><\/p>\n

Astronomers have long theorised the existence of a first generation of stars \u2014 known as Population III<\/a> stars \u2014 that were born out of the primordial material from the Big Bang [1]<\/a>. All the heavier chemical elements \u2014 such as oxygen, nitrogen, carbon and iron, which are essential to life \u2014 were forged in the bellies of stars. This means that the first stars must have formed out of the only elements to exist prior to stars: hydrogen, helium and trace amounts of lithium.<\/p>\n

These Population III stars would have been enormous \u2014 several hundred or even a thousand times more massive than the Sun \u2014 blazing hot, and transient \u2014 exploding as supernovae after only about two million years. But until now the search for physical proof of their existence had been inconclusive [2]<\/a>.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/cdn.eso.org\/videos\/medium_podcast\/eso1524a.m4v<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

A team led by David Sobral, from the Institute of Astrophysics and Space Sciences, the Faculty of Sciences of the\u00a0University of Lisbon in Portugal, and Leiden Observatory in the Netherlands, has now used ESO\u2019s Very Large Telescope<\/a> (VLT) to peer back into the ancient Universe, to a period known as reionisation<\/a>, approximately 800 million years after the Big Bang. Instead of conducting a narrow and deep study of a small area of the sky, they broadened their scope to produce the widest survey of very distant galaxies ever attempted.<\/p>\n

Their expansive study was made using the VLT with help from the W. M. Keck Observatory<\/a> and the Subaru Telescope<\/a> as well as the NASA\/ESA Hubble Space Telescope<\/a>. The team discovered \u2014 and confirmed \u2014 a number of surprisingly bright very young galaxies. One of these, labelled CR7 [3]<\/a>, was an exceptionally rare object, by far the brightest galaxy ever observed at this stage in the Universe [4]<\/a>. With the discovery of CR7 and other bright galaxies, the study was already a success, but further inspection provided additional exciting news.<\/p>\n

The X-shooter<\/a> and SINFONI<\/a> instruments on the VLT found strong ionised helium emission in CR7 but \u2014 crucially and surprisingly \u2014 no sign of any heavier elements in a bright pocket in the galaxy. This meant the team had discovered the first good evidence for clusters of Population III stars that had ionised gas within a galaxy in the early Universe [5]<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe discovery challenged our expectations from the start<\/em>,\u201d said David Sobral, \u201cas we didn\u2019t expect to find such a bright galaxy. Then, by unveiling the nature of CR7 piece by piece, we understood that not only had we found by far the most luminous distant galaxy, but also started to realise that it had every single characteristic expected of Population III stars. Those stars were the ones that formed the first heavy atoms that ultimately allowed us to be here. It doesn\u2019t really get any more exciting than this<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Within CR7, bluer and somewhat redder clusters of stars were found, indicating that the formation of Population III stars had occurred in waves \u2014 as had been predicted. What the team directly observed was the last wave of Population III stars, suggesting that such stars should be easier to find than previously thought: they reside amongst regular stars, in brighter galaxies, not just in the earliest, smallest, and dimmest galaxies, which are so faint as to be extremely difficult to study.<\/p>\n

Jorryt Matthee, second author of the paper, concluded: \u201cI have always wondered where we come from. Even as a child I wanted to know where the elements come from: the calcium in my bones, the carbon in my muscles, the iron in my blood. I found out that these were first formed at the very beginning of the Universe, by the first generation of stars. With this discovery, remarkably, we are starting to actually see such objects for the first time<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Further observations with the VLT, ALMA<\/a>, and the NASA\/ESA Hubble Space Telescope are planned to confirm beyond doubt that what has been observed are Population III stars, and to search for and identify further examples.<\/p>\n

Notes<\/h3>\n

<\/a>[1] The name Population III arose because astronomers had already classed the stars of the Milky Way as Population I (stars like the Sun, rich in heavier elements and forming the disc) and Population II (older stars, with a low heavy-element content, and found in the Milky Way bulge and halo, and globular star clusters).<\/p>\n

<\/a>[2] Finding these stars is very difficult: they would have been extremely short-lived, and would have shone at a time when the Universe was largely opaque to their light. Previous findings include: Nagao, et al., 2008<\/a>, where no ionised helium was detected; De Breuck et al., 2000<\/a>, where ionised helium was detected, but alongside carbon and oxygen, as well as clear signatures of an active galactic nucleus<\/a>; and Cassata et al., 2013<\/a>, where ionised helium was detected, but of a very lowequivalent width<\/a>, or weak intensity, and alongside carbon and oxygen.<\/p>\n

<\/a>[3] CR7\u2019s nickname is an abbreviation of COSMOS<\/a> Redshift<\/a> 7, a measure of its place in terms of cosmic time. The higher the redshift, the more distant the galaxy and the further back in the history of the Universe it is seen. A1689-zD1<\/a>, one of the oldest galaxies ever observed, for example, has a redshift of 7.5.<\/p>\n

CR7 is located in the COSMOS<\/a> field, an intensely studied patch of sky in the constellation of Sextans (The Sextant).<\/p>\n

The nickname was inspired by the great Portuguese footballer, Cristiano Ronaldo<\/a>, who is known as CR7.<\/p>\n

<\/a>[4] CR7 is three times brighter in terms of ultraviolet light emission than the previous titleholder, Himiko<\/a>, which was thought to be one of a kind at this very early time. Dusty galaxies, <\/a>at later stages in the history of the Universe, may radiate far more total energy than CR7 in the form of infrared radiation from warm dust. The energy coming from CR7 is mostly ultraviolet\/visible light.<\/p>\n

<\/a>[5] The team considered two alternate theories: that the source of the light was either from an\u00a0AGN<\/a> or Wolf\u2013Rayet<\/a> stars. The lack of heavy elements, and other evidence strongly refutes both these theories. The team also considered that the source may be a direct-collapse black hole<\/a>, which are themselves exceptional exotic and purely theoretical objects. The lack of a broad emission line and the fact that the hydrogen and helium luminosities were much greater than what has been predicted for such a black hole indicate that this, too, is unlikely. A lack of X-ray emissions would further refute this possibility, but additional observations are needed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here’s a new\u00a0ESO\u00a0report: Best Observational Evidence of First Generation Stars in the Universe Astronomers using ESO\u2019s Very Large Telescope have discovered by far the brightest galaxy yet found in the early Universe and found strong evidence that examples of the first generation of stars lurk within it. These massive, brilliant, and previously purely theoretical objects … Continue reading ESO: Observational evidence of first generation of stars in the early universe<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-astronomy"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p34aWK-2NX","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":14022,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=14022","url_meta":{"origin":10785,"position":0},"title":"ESO: ALMA observes galaxy formed when the universe was very young","author":"TopSpacer","date":"March 8, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The latest report from\u00a0ESO\u00a0(European Southern Observatory): Ancient Stardust Sheds Light on the First Stars Most distant object ever observed by ALMA Astronomers have used ALMA to detect a huge mass of glowing stardust in a galaxy seen when the Universe was only four percent of its present age. This galaxy\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Astronomy"","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/eso1708a1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10835,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=10835","url_meta":{"origin":10785,"position":1},"title":"ESO: Clear evidence that Messier 87 swallowed another galaxy","author":"TopSpacer","date":"June 25, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The\u00a0ESO\u00a0(European Southern Observatory) Giant Galaxy is Still Growing Messier 87 has swallowed an entire galaxy in the last billion years New observations with ESO\u2019s Very Large Telescope have revealed that the giant elliptical galaxy Messier 87 has swallowed an entire medium-sized galaxy over the last billion years. For the first\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Astronomy"","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"The huge halo around giant elliptical galaxy Messier 87 appears on this very deep image. An excess of light in the top-right part of this halo, and the motion of planetary nebulae in the galaxy, are the last remaining signs of a medium-sized galaxy that recently collided with Messier 87. The image also reveals many other galaxies forming the Virgo Cluster, of which Messier 87 is the largest member. In particular, the two galaxies at the top right of the frame are nicknamed \"the Eyes\".","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/eso1525a1-1024x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":25890,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=25890","url_meta":{"origin":10785,"position":2},"title":"ESO: Observation of distant gas clouds formed from the first stars","author":"TopSpacer","date":"May 3, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The latest report from the European Southern Observatory (ESO): Astronomers find distant gas clouds with leftovers of the first stars Using ESO\u2019s Very Large Telescope (VLT), researchers have found for the first time the fingerprints left by the explosion of the first stars in the Universe. They detected three distant\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Astronomy"","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/eso2306a1-500x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8827,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=8827","url_meta":{"origin":10785,"position":3},"title":"ESO: Possible explanation for why Milky Way-like galaxies are so common","author":"TopSpacer","date":"September 16, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"A report from the European Southern Observatory (ESO): Violent Origins of Disc Galaxies Probed by ALMA New observations explain why Milky Way-like galaxies are so common in the Universe For decades scientists have believed that galaxy mergers usually result in the formation of elliptical galaxies. Now, for the the first\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Astronomy"","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"eso1429a","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/eso1429a.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11087,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=11087","url_meta":{"origin":10785,"position":4},"title":"ESO: First detection of Lithium ejected from a nova","author":"TopSpacer","date":"July 29, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"A new report from ESO (European Southern Observatory): First Detection of Lithium from an Exploding Star The chemical element lithium has been found for the first time in material ejected by a nova. Observations of Nova Centauri 2013 made using telescopes at ESO\u2019s La Silla Observatory, and near Santiago in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Astronomy"","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"eso1531a[1]","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/eso1531a1-885x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11363,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=11363","url_meta":{"origin":10785,"position":5},"title":"ESO: The Sculptor Dwarf Galaxy gives clues to early galaxy and star formation","author":"TopSpacer","date":"September 16, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"ESO\u00a0(European Southern Observatory) releases a new report: A Shy Galactic Neighbour The Sculptor Dwarf Galaxy, pictured in this new image from the Wide Field Imager camera, installed on the 2.2-metre MPG\/ESO telescope at ESO\u2019s La Silla Observatory, is a close neighbour of our galaxy, the Milky Way. Despite their close\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Astronomy"","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Sculptor Dwarf Galaxy, pictured in a new image from the Wide Field Imager camera, installed on the 2.2-metre MPG\/ESO telescope at ESO\u2019s La Silla Observatory, is a close neighbour of our galaxy, the Milky Way. Despite their proximity, both galaxies have very distinct histories and characters. This galaxy is much smaller, fainter and older than the Milky Way and appears here as a cloud of faint stars filling most of the picture. Many other much more distant galaxies can be seen shining right through the sparse stars of the Sculptor Dwarf.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/eso1536a1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10785","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10785"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10785\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10787,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10785\/revisions\/10787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}