Astronomers talked about the possible discovery of the first stars of the universe

Astronomers studying a distant galaxy using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have reported the most convincing candidates for the role of the first stars in the universe so far. These objects, belonging to the Population III generation, are considered key to understanding the early stages of space evolution. This was reported on November 19 by Scientific American.

Population III are the first stars that appeared shortly after the Big Bang and formed from primordial hydrogen and helium. Their bright but short lives ended with supernovae, spreading heavier elements, which later formed stars of subsequent generations. Despite the fact that JWST was created specifically for hunting such objects, the distance and short duration of their existence make it extremely difficult to search.

Researchers have discovered potential signs of Population III in the galaxy LAP1-B, located more than 13 billion light-years away. Its weak light is enhanced by gravitational lensing — the closer galactic cluster works like a giant lens. Analysis of the spectra showed the presence of helium in the absence of heavy elements, which corresponds to expectations for early stellar systems. However, scientists warn: this is not a definitive proof. The paper, published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, notes that JWST could have detected ultrapure gas clouds rather than the ancient stars themselves.

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Accurate verification is possible with deeper LAP1-B observations. For example, the lack of oxygen would be a serious argument in favor of the hypothesis. At the same time, an expert from the Austrian Institute of Science and Technology, Iorrit Matti, emphasized the complexity of the task: the absence of signs of heavy elements does not mean their real absence, especially at such cosmic distances.

Despite the uncertainty, the researchers said that the current data is the closest to the direct detection of the oldest stars, which have so far remained hypothetical.

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Earlier, on November 13, astronomers managed to capture the shape of a supernova for the first time in the earliest hours after the outbreak, observing SN 2024ggi in the galaxy NGC 3621 at a distance of about 22 million light-years. It is clarified that spectropolarimetry has become a research tool, a method that allows to restore the structure of an explosion even in cases where the object is visible as a dot.

All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.