Cosmic Wind Driven by Supernovas Destroys Early Galaxy's Star-Making Fuel

A cosmic wind driven by supernovas is expelling gas from the early galaxy CRISTAL-02 at double the rate it forms stars, according to a new study. The discovery, made using the James Webb Space Telescope and ALMA, may explain why the early universe contains many massive galaxies that have already stopped forming stars.

The findings

Observations show that CRISTAL-02, located about one billion years after the Big Bang, is forming stars at 260 solar masses per year—three times the normal rate Source: gizmodo. However, a powerful wind is ejecting gas at 520 solar masses per year, more than twice as fast as the star formation. The wind is a plume of cold gas nearly as long as the galaxy itself, likely driven by the combined effect of many supernovae from the intense starburst Source: lavanguardia.

The galaxy is part of a system of several galaxies in the final stages of a merger. The collision pushes gas inward, triggering the starburst, but the resulting supernovae then blow the fuel out. "The galaxy has a powerful wind that is expelling material two times faster than the galaxy forms stars," said lead author Rebecca Davies from Swinburne University of Technology Source: lavanguardia. If the expulsion continues, the galaxy could become quiescent in less than 50 million years Source: gizmodo.

Implications

This process may solve a puzzle posed by JWST: the presence of many massive "dead" galaxies in the early universe. The new observation captures a galaxy in the act of quenching its own star formation Source: gizmodo.