Cosmic Vine: James Webb Space Telescope Reveals Spectacular Chain of 20 Ancient Galaxies, Unraveling Mysteries of Early Universe Formation

Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), astronomers have identified a substantial chain of at least 20 closely packed galaxies from the early universe. This discovery dubbed the "Cosmic Vine" has the potential to provide insights into the formation of massive structures in the cosmos.

These densely packed galaxy structures are considered precursors to galaxy clusters, and studying them is crucial for advancing the understanding of galaxy formation and evolution.

Cosmic Vine: Megastructure of Ancient Galaxies

The Cosmic Vine unveiled in a study, titled "Cosmic Vine: A z=3.44 Large-Scale Structure Hosting Massive Quiescent Galaxies" published on November 8 in the preprint server arXiv, is a megastructure that stretches through space in a bow shape, estimated over 13 million light-years long and 650,000 light-years wide.

This vast conglomeration of gas and galaxies was identified by astronomers scrutinizing JWST observations of the Extended Groth Strip, situated between the constellations Ursa Major and Boötes.

The astronomers' focus was on detecting light from early galaxies, emphasizing the redshift property, indicating how light wavelengths increase as they traverse the expanding universe. All galaxies within the Cosmic Vine displayed a redshift of approximately 3.44, signifying their light's journey over 11 to 12 billion years, covering most of the universe's 13.8 billion-year lifespan.

Moreover, the study reveals that the Cosmic Vine encompasses at least 20 massive galaxies and six galaxy overdensities, totaling a mass of 260 billion solar masses. The two most massive galaxies within the structure, Galaxy A and Galaxy E, exhibit quiescence with low star-formation rates and bulge-dominated morphologies.

Researchers suggest that the Cosmic Vine is evolving towards forming a galaxy cluster, with the possibility of Galaxy E becoming the brightest cluster galaxy (BCG) in the cluster core at a later cosmic time.

Additionally, the study proposes that Galaxy A and E likely underwent quenching processes, such as merger-triggered starburst or active galactic nucleus (AGN) feedback, within the past 500 million years.

The findings encourage further exploration of quiescent cluster galaxies at high redshifts, crucial for advancing our comprehension of the formation and evolution of the universe's largest structures. The recently launched ESA's Euclid space telescope is poised to contribute to this exploration, aligning with its scientific goals to unravel the structure and history of the cosmic web.

Cosmic Vine Raises Questions About Galactic Evolution and Cosmos' Nature

The Cosmic Vine surpasses the size of other early universe galaxy groups, indicating its potential evolution into a galaxy cluster. Galaxy clusters, massive structures bound by gravity, typically have masses ranging from hundreds of billions to quadrillions of times that of the Sun.

The researchers are intrigued by the early quenching of star formation in these large galaxies, suggesting recent galactic mergers and cosmic collisions triggered intense starbursts that depleted available gas.

The discovery adds to a growing list of large structures found in the early universe by JWST, raising questions about the universe's nature. Further study is required to unravel the mysteries surrounding this ancient galactic chain.

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