New Discovery of a Distant Spiral Galaxy Detected by JWST

[patricjfrenn]

An international team of astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has uncovered a new grand-design spiral galaxy as part of the PANORAMIC survey. The newly discovered galaxy, named Zhúlóng, is exceptionally massive and is believed to be the most distant spiral galaxy ever identified. The findings were shared in a paper published on December 17 on the pre-print server arXiv.

Grand-design spiral galaxies are known for their well-defined, prominent arms that radiate from a clear core. These arms are thought to be regions of higher density within the galaxy's disk, where incoming material is compressed, triggering star formation.

While the origins of spiral galaxies in the early universe remain unclear, they are considered rare at high redshifts, with only a few spirals detected at redshifts above 3.0.

A team of astronomers, led by Mengyuan Xiao from the University of Geneva, Switzerland, has now serendipitously discovered a new high-redshift grand-design spiral galaxy using JWST. The galaxy, named Zhúlóng after a Chinese mythology figure, was found at a photometric redshift of approximately 5.2.

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Zhúlóng's mass was found to be comparable to that of the Milky Way, which is remarkable for a galaxy that formed within one billion years after the Big Bang, as indicated by its redshift.

The study revealed that Zhúlóng possesses a classical bulge and a large, face-on stellar disk with spiral arms extending across 62,000 light years. Spectral energy distribution (SED) analysis suggests a quiescent core and an actively star-forming stellar disk.

Additionally, the study found that the center of Zhúlóng is redder than its stellar disk and has the highest stellar mass surface densities seen in quiescent galaxies. This quiescent core aligns with expectations for the inside-out growth and quenching of galaxies.

Despite its star-forming disk, Zhúlóng exhibits a relatively low overall star-formation rate of 66 solar masses per year. The baryon-to-star conversion efficiency of the galaxy was found to be approximately 0.3, 1.5 times higher than the most efficient galaxies at later epochs. This suggests that Zhúlóng was highly efficient at forming stars and is currently transitioning from a star-forming phase to a quiescent one.

In conclusion, the researchers suggest that Zhúlóng could be the most distant spiral galaxy discovered to date, and its properties imply that mature galaxies began to form earlier than expected within the first billion years following the Big Bang.