When the Universe was about 350 million years old, it was much darker: there were no stars, no galaxies, only
This period - the epoch of reionization, lasted about 370 million years, and the first large structures in the Universe appeared in the form of groups or clusters of galaxies just at this time.
An international group of astronomers, united inThe Lyman Alpha Galaxies in the Epoch of Reionization (LAGER) consortium has discovered the most distant such high-density galaxy protocluster ever observed. The study opens up new possibilities for understanding the evolution of high-density regions in the Universe and the galaxies of which they are composed.
We discovered a protocluster observed whenThe age of the Universe was less than 6% of its current age, towards the end of the reionization period. This is the most distant protocluster confirmed by spectroscopy. An estimate of the mass involved suggests that in the current era this massive cluster of galaxies is comparable to the famous Coma cluster.
Leopoldo Infante, director of the Carnegie Observatory in Las Campanas
Dark Energy Camera (DECam) mounted onThe 4-meter Victor M. Blanco Telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) was used to conduct the study. The spectra of the 6.5-meter Magellan telescope at the Las Campanas observatory were used to confirm the data. The study authors noted that the sky conditions at Las Campanas observatory allow for deep, high-resolution observations of very faint objects.
“Magellan telescopes with their active optics andextremely sensitive spectrographs allow us to observe galaxies whose light was emitted as early as 750 million years after the Big Bang, "Infante emphasized.
The LAGER group seeks to understand physics during reionization, but in the context of the formation and evolution of galaxies.
“This research is important - it establishesconditions of matter in the Universe during reionization. The discovery of the protocluster makes it possible not only to study individual galaxies, but also to understand how clusters and structures in them are formed. Universe. At the same time, it reveals the initial conditions for the formation of structures, ”added Infante.
To date, the LAGER studyhas discovered dozens of galaxies whose light emitted when the universe was about 750 million years old. To understand the physical conditions of matter in the Universe at that time, researchers need to multiply the number of observed galaxies by at least 10 times. Scientists noted that they will continue to explore more ancient galaxies using the 4-meter Blanco telescope and the 6.5-meter Magellan telescope until they achieve the required statistical accuracy.
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Clump of Veronica's Hair (other names:The Coma Cluster, Abell 1656) is a large cluster of galaxies located approximately 99 megaparsecs away. In the observed sky, the cluster has an angular size of about 12 °; it is located in the celestial sphere near the north pole of our Galaxy. The diameter of the cluster is about 17 megaparsecs. Together with the Leo Cluster and several smaller galaxy clusters, it makes up the Coma Supercluster, the closest galaxy supercluster to our Virgo supercluster.