Witnessing the onset of reionization through Lyman-α emission at redshift 13

Joris Witstok (), Peter Jakobsen, Roberto Maiolino, Jakob M. Helton, Benjamin D. Johnson, Brant E. Robertson, Sandro Tacchella, Alex J. Cameron, Renske Smit, Andrew J. Bunker, Aayush Saxena, Fengwu Sun, Stacey Alberts, Santiago Arribas, William M. Baker, Rachana Bhatawdekar, Kristan Boyett, Phillip A. Cargile, Stefano Carniani, Stéphane Charlot, Jacopo Chevallard, Mirko Curti, Emma Curtis-Lake, Francesco D’Eugenio, Daniel J. Eisenstein, Kevin N. Hainline, Gareth C. Jones, Nimisha Kumari, Michael V. Maseda, Pablo G. Pérez-González, Pierluigi Rinaldi, Jan Scholtz, Hannah Übler, Christina C. Williams, Christopher N. A. Willmer, Chris Willott and Yongda Zhu
Additional contact information
Joris Witstok: University of Cambridge
Peter Jakobsen: Cosmic Dawn Center (DAWN)
Roberto Maiolino: University of Cambridge
Jakob M. Helton: University of Arizona
Benjamin D. Johnson: Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian
Brant E. Robertson: University of California, Santa Cruz
Sandro Tacchella: University of Cambridge
Alex J. Cameron: University of Oxford
Renske Smit: Liverpool John Moores University
Andrew J. Bunker: University of Oxford
Aayush Saxena: University College London
Fengwu Sun: University of Arizona
Stacey Alberts: University of Arizona
Santiago Arribas: CSIC-INTA
William M. Baker: University of Cambridge
Rachana Bhatawdekar: European Space Agency (ESA)
Kristan Boyett: University of Oxford
Phillip A. Cargile: Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian
Stefano Carniani: Scuola Normale Superiore
Stéphane Charlot: Sorbonne Université, CNRS, UMR 7095
Jacopo Chevallard: University of Oxford
Mirko Curti: European Southern Observatory
Emma Curtis-Lake: University of Hertfordshire
Francesco D’Eugenio: University of Cambridge
Daniel J. Eisenstein: Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian
Kevin N. Hainline: University of Arizona
Gareth C. Jones: University of Cambridge
Nimisha Kumari: Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)
Michael V. Maseda: University of Wisconsin–Madison
Pablo G. Pérez-González: CSIC-INTA
Pierluigi Rinaldi: University of Arizona
Jan Scholtz: University of Cambridge
Hannah Übler: University of Cambridge
Christina C. Williams: NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory (NOIRLab)
Christopher N. A. Willmer: University of Arizona
Chris Willott: NRC Herzberg
Yongda Zhu: University of Arizona

Nature, 2025, vol. 639, issue 8056, 897-901

Abstract: Abstract Cosmic reionization began when ultraviolet (UV) radiation produced in the first galaxies began illuminating the cold, neutral gas that filled the primordial Universe1,2. Recent James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) observations have shown that surprisingly UV-bright galaxies were in place beyond redshift z = 14, when the Universe was less than 300 Myr old3–5. Smooth turnovers of their UV continua have been interpreted as damping-wing absorption of Lyman-α (Ly-α), the principal hydrogen transition6–9. However, spectral signatures encoding crucial properties of these sources, such as their emergent radiation field, largely remain elusive. Here we report spectroscopy from the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES10) of a galaxy at redshift z = 13.0 that reveals a singular, bright emission line unambiguously identified as Ly-α, as well as a smooth turnover. We observe an equivalent width of EWLy-α > 40 Å (rest frame), previously only seen at z

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-08779-5

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