Astronomers at Durham University, using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), have detected oxygen in the most distant galaxy ever observed, providing the earliest signs of galaxy formation. The galaxy, known as GHZ2/GLASS-z12, is located approximately 13.4 billion light-years away, meaning it existed just 367 million years after the Big Bang.
The discovery, published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, marks the most distant oxygen ever detected. The team, led by Dr. Tom Bakx, used ALMA to observe the galaxy's spectral lines, revealing a sudden burst of star formation that enriched the galaxy with oxygen.
This finding challenges previous models of galaxy evolution, suggesting that galaxies formed and matured much faster than previously thought. The oxygen detection indicates that this early galaxy had already undergone several generations of star formation, producing heavy elements within a few hundred million years of the Universe's birth.
Dr. Bakx commented, 'This is like finding a teenager where you would only expect babies. The galaxy is surprisingly mature for its age.' The research provides crucial insights into the early Universe and the processes that shaped the first galaxies.
The study was conducted as part of the ALMA Large Program REBELS, which aims to observe the most distant galaxies. The findings were verified using data from the Hubble Space Telescope and the Spitzer Space Telescope.
