Spiral morphology in an intensely star-forming disk galaxy more than 12 billion years ago

DOI10.1126/SCIENCE.ABE9680zbMATH Open1491.85001arXiv2108.02206OpenAlexW3161630148WikidataQ114820819 ScholiaQ114820819MaRDI QIDQ5092794

Satoru Iguchi, Takafumi Tsukui

Publication date: 25 July 2022

Published in: Science (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: Spiral galaxies have distinct internal structures including a stellar bulge, disk and spiral arms. It is unknown when in cosmic history these structures formed. We analyze observations of BRI 1335-0417, an intensely star-forming galaxy in the distant Universe, at redshift 4.41. The [C II] gas kinematics show a steep velocity rise near the galaxy center and have a two-armed spiral morphology that extends from about 2 to 5 kiloparsecs in radius. We interpret these features as due to a central compact structure, such as a bulge, a rotating gas disk and either spiral arms or tidal tails. These features had been formed within 1.4 billion years after the Big Bang, long before the peak of cosmic star formation.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/2108.02206

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Galactic and stellar dynamics (85A05) Experimental work for problems pertaining to astronomy and astrophysics (85-05)

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