Protocluster Discovered with Dead Galaxies; Young Members Stopped Evolving Since Early Formation of Universe

The University of California - Riverside led the discovery of the unique cosmic cluster of numerous young galaxies. The group was charted in a region that was once a galactic metropolis.

MAGAZ3NE J095924+022537 Protocluster and Young Galactic Members

A photo released by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope on February 5, 2009 of an unusual spiral galaxy in the Coma Galaxy Cluster in the northern constellation of Coma Berenices, the hair of Queen Berenice. The cluster, also known as Abell 1656, is about 320 million light-years from Earth and contains more than 1000 members. The brightest galaxies, including NGC 4921 shown here, were discovered back in the late 18th century by William Herschel. AFP PHOTO/NASA/ESA Hubble via Getty Images

The new cluster, called the MAGAZ3NE J095924+022537, comprises 38 separate young galaxies. The growing group of this new batch is located at about 11.8 billion lightyears away from our planet.

Galaxy clusters are known to grow over time. They utilize gravity to expand throughout the free spaces of the universe. The present-day status of the vast cosmic environment consists of hundreds to thousands of galaxies.

Aside from the galaxy, the universe also contains several hot gas masses and mysterious dark matter. Galaxies are known to burn up their fuels to expand and evolve. However, these lifetimes always end, resulting in the once flourishing galaxies into dead systems, complete with broken planets and exploding host stars.

UC Riverside Department of Physics and Astronomy expert and lead author of the study Ian McConachie said in a PhysOrg report that all protoclusters found in the early universe could be a forming galaxy today.

The MAGAZ3NE J0959 cluster, however, seems to have some protoclusters-turned-galaxies that have already stopped forming stars.

Co-author Gillian Wilson said that the J0959 cluster was first discovered during the widescale Massive Ancient Galaxies At Z > 3 NEar-infrared (MAGAZ3NE) survey. The project was formed to meet and study a number of ultramassive galaxies as well as the corresponding systems.

Wilson said that the protocluster is the same as when the universe was less than two billion years old. By observing the MAGAZ3NE, it would seem like the Coma cluster transferred in a portion of the early universe.

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Dead Galaxies in MAGAZ3NE Still a Mystery

Department of Physics and Astronomy fellow expert and now based at UC Davis Ben Forrest said that MAGAZ3NE J0959 has an ultramassive galaxy that has already formed a mass of over 200 billion suns.

Forrest said that the reason behind the sudden pause of the ultramassive galaxy and its neighbors to further develop amidst the continuation of other protoclusters at the time is still a mystery. Most of the galactic members of the cluster already had sufficient mass ready for stellar and planetary formation.

MAGAZ3NE J0959 was initially discovered from a ground-based observatory. But through the help of the new James Webb Space Telescope, experts believe that more details will be extracted from the cluster. In addition, we will also know if ever separate protoclusters contain dead galaxies in other parts of the universe.

Forrest explained that if clusters have similar categories from the MAGAZ3NE, studies over the protoclusters will probably be revised. It will affect the already established scenarios in the early universe and may modify the expected outcomes in many simulation approaches.

W. M. Keck Observatory's Multi-Object Spectrograph for Infrared Exploration (MOSFIRE) was utilized to get ahold of information regarding the presence of MAGAZ3NE. Further studies will focus on other galaxy members of the protocluster. The paper was published in The Astrophysical Journal, titled "Spectroscopic Confirmation of a Protocluster at z = 3.37 with a High Fraction of Quiescent Galaxies."