Universe grew ‘much faster than expected’ after Big Bang, astronomers say

Astronomers have said the Universe may have developed “much faster than was expected” after oxygen was found in the most distant known galaxy.

Scientists working with the Alma telescope in Chile’s Atacama Desert said they were “astonished” by the detection of oxygen in Jades-GS-z14-0, the most distant confirmed galaxy ever found, as it suggests galaxies formed more rapidly after the Big Bang than previously thought.

The light from Jades-GS-z14-0, which was discovered last year by scientists using Nasa’s James Webb Space Telescope, took 13.4 billion years to reach Earth.

This means observers see it as it was when the Universe was less than 300 million years old, about 2% of its present age, the European Southern Observatory (ESO) said.

Researchers previously believed that a 300-million-year-old Universe was still too young to have galaxies full of heavy elements such as oxygen, as these only disperse through galaxies after the death of stars inside them.

“It is like finding an adolescent where you would only expect babies,” said Sander Schouws, a PhD candidate at Leiden Observatory in the Netherlands.

“The results show the galaxy has formed very rapidly and is also maturing rapidly, adding to a growing body of evidence that the formation of galaxies happens much faster than was expected.”

Stefano Carniani, of the Scuola Normale Superiore of Pisa in Italy, said: “I was astonished by the unexpected results because they opened a new view on the first phases of galaxy evolution”.

“The evidence that a galaxy is already mature in the infant Universe raises questions about when and how galaxies formed.”

Galaxies usually start their lives full of young stars, which are made mostly of light elements like hydrogen and helium, ESO said.

But two different teams of astronomers found Jades-GS-z14-0 to contain about 10 times more heavy elements than expected.

The “record-breaking” oxygen detection has also allowed astronomers to make their distance measurements to Jades-GS-z14-0 much more accurate, ESO added.

Eleonora Parlanti, a PhD student at the Scuola Normale Superiore of Pisa, said: “The Alma detection offers an extraordinarily precise measurement of the galaxy’s distance down to an uncertainty of just 0.005%.

“This level of precision, analogous to being accurate within 5cm over a distance of 1km, helps refine our understanding of distant galaxy properties.”

Gergo Popping, an ESO astronomer at the European Alma Regional Centre who did not take part in the studies, said: “I was really surprised by this clear detection of oxygen in Jades-GS-z14-0.

“It suggests galaxies can form more rapidly after the Big Bang than had previously been thought.

“This result showcases the important role Alma plays in unravelling the conditions under which the first galaxies in our Universe formed.”

The two studies, one led by the Netherland’s Leiden Observatory and the other by the Scuola Normale Superiore of Pisa, were based on results from the Alma telescope (Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array), and carried out in partnership with ESO.