The Milky Way's "early death" in the primordial universe: the discovery of the JADES-GS-z7-01-QU galaxy

Author: Duan Yuechu and Huang Xianghong

In the vast universe, astronomers used the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to discover the oldest "dead" galaxy to date, code-named JADES-GS-z7-01-QU. Its discovery provides us with valuable clues about galaxy evolution and star formation in the early universe.

The JADES-GS-z7-01-QU galaxy was formed about 700 million years after the Big Bang and has about 100 million to 1 billion stars, making it a smaller galaxy. However, the star formation process in this galaxy only lasted 30 million to 90 million years, after which it suddenly stopped. The galaxy seems to have had a short and intense life, and then suddenly "died".

Researchers are puzzled by the "untimely death" of the JADES-GS-z7-01-QU galaxy. They speculate that the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy may have pushed the gas needed for new star formation out of the galaxy, resulting in the inability to form new stars. Another possibility is that the galaxy quickly consumed gas during star formation, but there was no new gas around to replenish it, causing the galaxy to "starve to death." Because this galaxy is very far away from the Earth, JWST observed the "past" of the galaxy. It is not ruled out that new stars were born after the galaxy obtained new gas, causing the galaxy to "resurrect from the dead."

This discovery challenges our current understanding of the early universe and suggests that galaxies may go from star formation to dormancy or extinction much faster than we thought. Studies of the JADES-GS-z7-01-QU galaxy may help us further reveal what the early universe looked like and what factors influenced star formation.

This major discovery has been published in the journal Nature and provides astronomers with a rare opportunity to peek into the evolution of galaxies in the primordial universe, including why galaxies stop forming new stars and whether the forces driving their outbursts change at different times.

References:

Galaxy found napping in the primordial Universe -Nature magazine