A massive galaxy that formed its stars at z ≈ 11

Karl Glazebrook (), Themiya Nanayakkara, Corentin Schreiber, Claudia Lagos, Lalitwadee Kawinwanichakij, Colin Jacobs, Harry Chittenden, Gabriel Brammer, Glenn G. Kacprzak, Ivo Labbe, Danilo Marchesini, Z. Cemile Marsan, Pascal A. Oesch, Casey Papovich, Rhea-Silvia Remus, Kim-Vy H. Tran, James Esdaile and Angel Chandro-Gomez
Additional contact information
Karl Glazebrook: Swinburne University of Technology
Themiya Nanayakkara: Swinburne University of Technology
Corentin Schreiber: IBEX Innovations
Claudia Lagos: University of Copenhagen
Lalitwadee Kawinwanichakij: Swinburne University of Technology
Colin Jacobs: Swinburne University of Technology
Harry Chittenden: Swinburne University of Technology
Gabriel Brammer: University of Copenhagen
Glenn G. Kacprzak: Swinburne University of Technology
Ivo Labbe: Swinburne University of Technology
Danilo Marchesini: Tufts University
Z. Cemile Marsan: York University
Pascal A. Oesch: University of Copenhagen
Casey Papovich: Texas A&M University
Rhea-Silvia Remus: Universitäts-Sternwarte, Fakultät für Physik, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Kim-Vy H. Tran: ARC Centre for Excellence in All-Sky Astrophysics in 3D
James Esdaile: Swinburne University of Technology
Angel Chandro-Gomez: University of Western Australia

Nature, 2024, vol. 628, issue 8007, 277-281

Abstract: Abstract The formation of galaxies by gradual hierarchical co-assembly of baryons and cold dark matter halos is a fundamental paradigm underpinning modern astrophysics1,2 and predicts a strong decline in the number of massive galaxies at early cosmic times3–5. Extremely massive quiescent galaxies (stellar masses of more than 1011 M⊙) have now been observed as early as 1–2 billion years after the Big Bang6–13. These galaxies are extremely constraining on theoretical models, as they had formed 300–500 Myr earlier, and only some models can form massive galaxies this early12,14. Here we report on the spectroscopic observations with the JWST of a massive quiescent galaxy ZF-UDS-7329 at redshift 3.205 ± 0.005. It has eluded deep ground-based spectroscopy8, it is significantly redder than is typical and its spectrum reveals features typical of much older stellar populations. Detailed modelling shows that its stellar population formed around 1.5 billion years earlier in time (z ≈ 11) at an epoch when dark matter halos of sufficient hosting mass had not yet assembled in the standard scenario4,5. This observation may indicate the presence of undetected populations of early galaxies and the possibility of significant gaps in our understanding of early stellar populations, galaxy formation and the nature of dark matter.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07191-9

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