A dynamically cold disk galaxy in the early Universe

F. Rizzo (), S. Vegetti, D. Powell, F. Fraternali, J. P. McKean, H. R. Stacey and S. D. M. White
Additional contact information
F. Rizzo: Max-Planck Institute for Astrophysics
S. Vegetti: Max-Planck Institute for Astrophysics
D. Powell: Max-Planck Institute for Astrophysics
F. Fraternali: University of Groningen
J. P. McKean: University of Groningen
H. R. Stacey: Max-Planck Institute for Astrophysics
S. D. M. White: Max-Planck Institute for Astrophysics

Nature, 2020, vol. 584, issue 7820, 201-204

Abstract: Abstract The extreme astrophysical processes and conditions that characterize the early Universe are expected to result in young galaxies that are dynamically different from those observed today1–5. This is because the strong effects associated with galaxy mergers and supernova explosions would lead to most young star-forming galaxies being dynamically hot, chaotic and strongly unstable1,2. Here we report the presence of a dynamically cold, but highly star-forming, rotating disk in a galaxy at redshift6 z = 4.2, when the Universe was just 1.4 billion years old. Galaxy SPT–S J041839–4751.9 is strongly gravitationally lensed by a foreground galaxy at z = 0.263, and it is a typical dusty starburst, with global star-forming7 and dust properties8 that are in agreement with current numerical simulations9 and observations10. Interferometric imaging at a spatial resolution of about 60 parsecs reveals a ratio of rotational to random motions of 9.7 ± 0.4, which is at least four times larger than that expected from any galaxy evolution model at this epoch1–5 but similar to the ratios of spiral galaxies in the local Universe11. We derive a rotation curve with the typical shape of nearby massive spiral galaxies, which demonstrates that at least some young galaxies are dynamically akin to those observed in the local Universe, and only weakly affected by extreme physical processes.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2572-6

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