New spectrograph shows how quasars were born in a young universe

Researchers hope this new, deeper level of research will help answer questions about

the origin of not only metals in the Universe, but also the stars themselves.

Iron is one of the most important elements for life.But details of the exact origins of iron and other important metals such as magnesium remain unknown. The study of the origin of metals is associated with the birth of the first stars several hundred million years after the Big Bang.

Research Fellow Hiroaki Sameshima of the InstituteAstronomy University of Tokyo came to the conclusion that the existing instruments for studying this aspect of astronomy are not enough and a new instrument is needed. Previous studies in visible light were limited to astronomical bodies 4 billion years old. Their new instrument, sensitive to near infrared light, will open up possibilities for observing distant quasars - the high-energy, ancient galactic nuclei. They emitted light when the universe was only 2.4 billion years old.

By installing the WINERED instrument on a large telescope,we will be able to peer into the distant past and observe more distant and ancient astronomical objects than those seen in previous studies. We have access to details of quasars that are already 10 billion old.  WINERED is a special type of spectrograph that reads chemical signatures in the light of distant bodies. It showed traces of iron and magnesium in the light of distant quasars. This made it possible to calculate the abundance of these elements when the Universe was much younger.

Hiroaki Sameshima from the Institute of Astronomy, University of Tokyo

Now that researchers have developed a newthe method of direct study of the content of metals in the early Universe, they face a new challenge. The methodology needs to be improved and empowered to collect more data. With them, astronomers can create theories that explain the origin of various metals in the universe.

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