2023-09-02 04:00:05
Thanks to the NOEMA observatory located in the French Alps, an international team has detected cold molecular gas in the form of carbon monoxide in the host galaxy of a supermassive black hole, at an early time in cosmic history. Never before had gas (A gas is a collection of atoms or molecules that are very weakly bonded and…) molecular cold (Cold is the opposite sensation of hot, associated with low temperatures.) been observed so early in the history of the Universe (The Universe is the set of all that exists and the laws that govern it.).
Artist’s impression of the quasar (A “quasi-stellar radiation source” (quasar), (quasi-stellar radio…) Pōniuāʻena.
Credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/P.Marenfeld
This team examined one of the three brightest and most distant quasars known to learn more regarding the mutual influence between the growth of supermassive black holes and that of their host galaxies, as well as the impact of these holes black on the first phases of the evolution of galaxies. Quasars are the extremely bright nuclei of active galaxies. Their enormous luminosity is due to the intense activity of the supermassive black hole (In astrophysics, a supermassive black hole is a black hole whose mass is approximately one million… ) which swallows matter (Matter is the substance that makes up any body having a tangible reality. Its…) at the center of the galaxy (Galaxies is a quarterly French magazine devoted to science fiction. With…) .
By observing the Pōniua’ena quasar – which, in the Hawaiian language, “evokes the invisible spinning source of creation, surrounded by brilliance” – with the NOEMA (Northern Extended Millimeter Array) observatory, the research team including scientists from CNRS-INSU (see box), detected cold molecular gas in the form of carbon monoxide (Carbon monoxide is one of the oxides of carbon. Its raw formula is written CO and its formula…) in the interstellar medium (In astronomy, the interstellar medium is the rarefied gas which, in a galaxy, exists between…) of the galaxy (A galaxy is, in cosmology, an assembly of stars, gas, dust and… ) host. One of the deciding factors was NOEMA’s remarkable sensitivity, coupled with its large band width.
Map of the emission of molecular gas (carbon monoxide) from the Poniua’ena quasar, obtained with NOEMA. In the lower part of the image, the detection of emission lines.
Credits: IRAM/NOEMA/C. Feruglio (INAF)
Cold molecular gas is believed to be one of the key elements for efficient star formation. This is why astronomers anticipate the existence of molecular gas very early in the history of the universe, even before stars were formed in large quantities. Therefore, the discovery of carbon monoxide in Pōniua’ena represents a new step towards understanding the formation of the very first molecules in the Universe.
“This is the first time that we have measured the reservoir of cold molecular gas and dust in the young Universe, only a few hundred million years following the Big Bang”, explains Chiara Feruglio. “We find that galaxies harboring quasars in the Old Universe already have the capacity to accumulate substantial amounts of molecular gas and dust: regarding twenty billion solar masses, which is comparable to what is observed at later cosmic epochs”.
This record-breaking detection is crucial because it paves the way for future studies aimed at uncovering the role of cold molecular gas accumulation in the formation of the first quasars and the matter accretion rates of “greedy” black holes.
Reference
“HYPERION: First constraints on dense molecular gas at z=7.5149 from the quasar Pōniua’ena”,
Chiara Feruglio, Umberto Maio, Roberta Tripodi, Jan Martin Winters, Luca Zappacosta, Manuela Bischetti, Francesca Civano, Stefano Carniani, Valentina D’Odorico, Fabrizio Fiore, Simona Gallerani, Michele Ginolfi, Roberto Maiolino, Enrico Piconcelli, Rosa Valiante, Maria Vittoria Zanchettin,
Astrophysical Journal Letters.
1693673484
#Record #discovery #cold #gas #young #Universe
