This discovery challenges current models of galaxy formation during the early stages of the . By combining observations from the ALMA radio telescope in the Atacama Desert and the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), scientists gained a clearer view of the galaxy dubbed “Cosmic Grapes.” They noted around 15 massive clusters of star formation within a single rotating disk.
This galaxy formed just 930 million years after the Big Bang. Previous observations from the Hubble Space Telescope depicted “Cosmic Grapes” as a typical galaxy with a smooth stellar disk. However, new deep observations with high resolution from JWST and ALMA revealed that the galaxy actually consists of numerous compact star clusters embedded within a smooth, rotating gas disk.
Studying from the early Universe has been challenging due to the limitations of observational tools, as reported by Popular Science. Even the renowned space researcher Hubble portrayed the “Cosmic Grapes” galaxy as a homogeneous, disk-like structure. Now, astronomers have witnessed a completely different spectacle.
According to research from the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Atacama, the structure of “Cosmic Grapes” was “perfectly magnified by a foreground cluster of galaxies through gravitational lensing.” After 100 hours of quality telescope observation, scientists confidently asserted that this is one of the most thoroughly studied galaxies from the early Universe.
Instead of a single disk as seen in Hubble’s images, the photos from JWST and ALMA, with exponentially higher resolution, showcased a vastly different picture: a rotating galaxy filled with gigantic, clumpy star formations resembling a bunch of grapes.
Interestingly, this is the first instance where have successfully linked smaller internal structures of an early galaxy to its overall rotation.
The team emphasized that “Cosmic Grapes” is not an unusual or extreme example, considering what astronomers understand about galactic evolution. On the contrary, this galaxy fits into the standard sequence of galaxies with characteristics such as star formation, mass, chemical composition, and size. Therefore, many galaxies from that era, previously thought to be smooth, may actually possess a clumpy, dynamic structure. This is something that JWST and ALMA can reveal.
According to the study’s authors, the discovery suggests that “understanding the processes of feedback and structure formation in young galaxies may require significant revision.”
The results of the study were published in the journal Nature Astronomy.
Photo: NSF / AUI / NSF NRAO / B. Saxton