The Big Wheel galaxy is a giant spiral galaxy that existed at least as far back as 2 billion years after the Big Bang. It was accidentally discovered in 2024 in an image taken by the James Webb Space Telescope while exploring a nearby quasar. The galaxy is 12 billion Light years away in the Constellation Phoenix. This disk galaxy is much bigger then the other galaxies back then. This seems to challenge current models of galaxy growth in the early universe. In 2022 to 2023, research conducted by the Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer onboard the Chandra X-Ray Observatory concluded that this galaxy is a Seyfert Galaxy because it has an Active Galactic Nucleus.[1]

It is much larger than other spiral galaxies in the same time, which seems to challenge current models of galaxy growth in the early universe.[2] The authors who made the discovery say that it "suggests the presence of favourable physical conditions for large-disk formation in dense environments in the early Universe". [1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wang, Weichen; Cantalupo, Sebastiano; Pensabene, Antonio; Galbiati, Marta; Travascio, Andrea; Steidel, Charles C.; Maseda, Michael V.; Pezzulli, Gabriele; de Beer, Stephanie; Fossati, Matteo; Fumagalli, Michele; Gallego, Sofia G.; Lazeyras, Titouan; Mackenzie, Ruari; Matthee, Jorryt (March 17, 2025). "A giant disk galaxy two billion years after the Big Bang". Nature Astronomy: 1–10. arXiv:2409.17956. Bibcode:2025NatAs.tmp...69W. doi:10.1038/s41550-025-02500-2. ISSN 2397-3366.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: bibcode (link)
  2. ^ Nanayakkara, Themiya (March 17, 2025). "You've heard of the Big Bang. Now astronomers have discovered the Big Wheel – here's why it's significant". The Conversation. Retrieved March 20, 2025.
Allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Wheel_galaxy
No tags for this post.