“James Webb” found carbon dust in young galaxies

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Summarize this content to 100 words Using data from the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers led by Joris Whitstock from the University of Cambridge were able to detect signs of carbon in ten different galaxies that existed one billion years after the Big Bang. In particular, we are talking about the JADES-GS-z6 galaxy.JADES-GS-z6 / NASA / ESA / CSAThis finding may change the understanding of the chemical evolution of the universe, since the processes responsible for the appearance and distribution of elements heavier than hydrogen and helium, including carbon, must proceed more slowly. Those galaxies where carbon dust has been detected are considered too young.Signs of carbon were discovered during the study of the light spectrum of very distant galaxies sampled by the James Webb Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES). Dust of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) stood out noticeably in the absorption of certain ultraviolet frequencies of light.Since the early universe consisted mainly of hydrogen and helium with some heavier elements interspersed, it was assumed that the first stars and galaxies must have been composed of similar elements. At the same time, carbon and oxygen, according to ideas, are “melted in nuclear furnaces” in the center of stars. When they ran out of fuel to continue nuclear fusion, they went supernova and spread the elements that were produced during nucleosynthesis into space. This stellar matter was integrated into the interstellar dust, which at some point in time collapsed and became the material for the next generation of stars that included heavy elements.The obtained data challenge this notion.James Webb previously imaged supernovae SN2004 et and SN 2017eaw, located 22 million light-years from Earth in the galaxy NGC 6946. The telescope also captured a large amount of dust, which apparently appeared as a result of the explosion. According to scientists, this supports the theory that supernovae played a key role in supplying dust to the early universe.

“James Webb” found carbon dust in young galaxies

Using data from the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers led by Joris Whitstock from the University of Cambridge were able to detect signs of carbon in ten different galaxies that existed one billion years after the Big Bang. In particular, we are talking about the JADES-GS-z6 galaxy.

JADES-GS-z6 / NASA / ESA / CSA

This finding may change the understanding of the chemical evolution of the universe, since the processes responsible for the appearance and distribution of elements heavier than hydrogen and helium, including carbon, must proceed more slowly. Those galaxies where carbon dust has been detected are considered too young.

Signs of carbon were discovered during the study of the light spectrum of very distant galaxies sampled by the James Webb Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES). Dust of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) stood out noticeably in the absorption of certain ultraviolet frequencies of light.

Since the early universe consisted mainly of hydrogen and helium with some heavier elements interspersed, it was assumed that the first stars and galaxies must have been composed of similar elements. At the same time, carbon and oxygen, according to ideas, are “melted in nuclear furnaces” in the center of stars. When they ran out of fuel to continue nuclear fusion, they went supernova and spread the elements that were produced during nucleosynthesis into space. This stellar matter was integrated into the interstellar dust, which at some point in time collapsed and became the material for the next generation of stars that included heavy elements.

The obtained data challenge this notion.

James Webb previously imaged supernovae SN2004 et and SN 2017eaw, located 22 million light-years from Earth in the galaxy NGC 6946. The telescope also captured a large amount of dust, which apparently appeared as a result of the explosion. According to scientists, this supports the theory that supernovae played a key role in supplying dust to the early universe.

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