Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2006-09-14
Nature 443 (2006) 186-188
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
10 pages, 3 figure, 1 table
Scientific paper
10.1038/nature05104
When galaxy formation started in the history of the Universe remains unclear. Studies of the cosmic microwave background indicate that the Universe, after initial cooling (following the Big Bang), was reheated and reionized by hot stars in newborn galaxies at a redshift in the range 6 < z < 14 (ref. 1). Though several candidate galaxies at redshift z > 7 have been identified photometrically (refs 2,3), galaxies with spectroscopically confirmed redshifts have been confined to z < 6.6 (refs. 4-8). Here we report a spectroscopic redshift of z = 6.96 (corresponding to just 750 Myr after the Big Bang) for a galaxy whose spectrum clearly shows Lyman-alpha emission at 9,682 A, indicating active star formation at a rate of about 10 M_sun/yr, where M_sun us the mass of the Sun. This demonstrates that galaxy formation was under way when the Universe was only about 6 per cent of its present age. The number density of galaxies at z = 7 seems to be only 18-36 per cent of the density at z = 6.6.
Furusawa Hisanori
Hashimoto Tetsuya
Hattori Takashi
Iye Masanori
Kashikawa Nobunari
No associations
LandOfFree
A galaxy at a redshift z = 6.96 does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with A galaxy at a redshift z = 6.96, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and A galaxy at a redshift z = 6.96 will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-536943