Bound star clusters observed in a lensed galaxy 460 Myr after the Big Bang

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Adamo, Angela; Bradley, Larry D.; Vanzella, Eros; Claeyssens, Adelaide; Welch, Brian; Diego, Jose M.; Mahler, Guillaume; Oguri, Masamune; Sharon, Keren; Abdurro'uf; Hsiao, Tiger Yu-Yang; Xu, Xinfeng; Messa, Matteo; Lassen, Augusto E.; Zackrisson, Erik; Brammer, Gabriel; Coe, Dan; Kokorev, Vasily; Ricotti, Massimo; Zitrin, Adi; Fujimoto, Seiji; Inoue, Akio K.; Resseguier, Tom; Rigby, Jane R.; Jimenez-Teja, Yolanda; Windhorst, Rogier A.; Hashimoto, Takuya; Tamura, Yoichi
• 署名单位: Stockholm University; Oskar Klein Centre; Space Telescope Science Institute; Istituto Nazionale Astrofisica (INAF); University System of Maryland; University of Maryland College Park; National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA); NASA Goddard Space Flight Center; Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC); Universidad de Cantabria; CSIC - Instituto de Fisica de Cantabria (IFCA); Durham University; Durham University; Chiba University; Chiba University; University of Michigan System; University of Michigan; Johns Hopkins University; Northwestern University; Northwestern University; Uppsala University; Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study (SCAS); University of Copenhagen; Niels Bohr Institute; Space Telescope Science Institute; University of Groningen; Kapteyn Astronomical Institute; Ben-Gurion University of the Negev; University of Texas System; University of Texas Austin; Waseda University; Waseda University; Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC); CSIC - Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia (IAA); Arizona State University; Arizona State University-Tempe; University of Tsukuba; University of Tsukuba; Nagoya University
• 刊物名称: Nature
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0028-5154
• DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07703-7
• 发表日期: 2024-08-15
• 页码: 513-516
• 关键词: globular-clusters; mass; i.

摘要

The Cosmic Gems arc is among the brightest and highly magnified galaxies observed at redshift z approximate to 10.2 (ref.(1)). However, it is an intrinsically ultraviolet faint galaxy, in the range of those now thought to drive the reionization of the Universe(2-4). Hitherto the smallest features resolved in a galaxy at a comparable redshift are between a few hundreds and a few tens of parsecs (pc)(5,6). Here we report JWST observations of the Cosmic Gems. The light of the galaxy is resolved into five star clusters located in a region smaller than 70pc. They exhibit minimal dust attenuation and low metallicity, ages younger than 50Myr and intrinsic masses of about 10(6)M(circle dot). Their lensing-corrected sizes are approximately 1pc, resulting in stellar surface densities near 10(5)M(circle dot)pc(-2), three orders of magnitude higher than typical young star clusters in the local Universe(7). Despite the uncertainties inherent to the lensing model, they are consistent with being gravitationally bound stellar systems, that is, proto-globular clusters. We conclude that star cluster formation and feedback likely contributed to shaping the properties of galaxies during the epoch of reionization. JWST observations of the Cosmic Gems arc resolve the light of an infant galaxy into five gravitationally bound star clusters located in a region smaller than 70pc.