Bright orange spots indicate organic molecules in a gravitationally lensed image of a distant galaxy. Source : J. Spilker/S. Doyle, NASA, ESA, CSA
Astronomer Justin Spilker of Texas A&M University and his colleagues working on the James Webb Telescope have discovered a significant amount of organic matter in the distant galaxy SPT0418-47, which is 12.3 billion light-years away from Earth. According to the journal Nature, we are talking about polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which are present, in particular, in smoke and soot.
These substances have never before been observed in such distant depths of the universe. Such compounds form around young stars that emit a lot of ultraviolet light. When these compounds become numerous, they begin to play a significant role in regulating the heating and cooling of intragalactic gas, and hence in regulating the process of star formation.
Scientists observe the SPT0418-47 galaxy in the state it was in 1.5 billion years after the birth of the universe. Even with the James Webb telescope, it would be impossible to see it if it were not "hiding" behind another, closer galaxy. The latter plays the role of a gravitational lens and increases the brightness of SPT0418-47 by 30 times. (Light rays are deflected in a gravitational field, so heavy objects in the universe can act as a lens.)
Now astronomers are trying to explain why polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are not found in all parts of the observed galaxy where star formation is taking place. Scientists are also going to study two other gravitationally lensed galaxies for the presence of these substances.