Astronomers have long been question how galaxy could have ionized all the gun present in the universe after the Big Bang , lead to the universe we see today , and struggled to meet the strength of the discharge from galaxies with how quickly reionization happened . But a citizen scientific discipline discovery has head them to work out the potential culprit forcosmic reionization .
An international group of astronomers believe thatgreen pea plant galaxiesare responsible for reionization . Green pea are small succinct target that can emit very powerful photon open of turning neutral hydrogen into ionized plasma . Green pea galaxies were discovered in 2007 by volunteer users ofGalaxy Zoo , and they are so - name because they resemble peas .
After the Big Bang , the world experienced a prospicient epoch where no light was shine , aptly called the cosmic moody geezerhood . During this prison term , the universe of discourse was populate by enceinte clouds of neutral hydrogen . This uneventful time for the gasolene came to an sharp halt when the birthing of stars turned the hydrogen into a plasm , the beginning of the reionization of the cosmos .
Cosmic reionization is still mostly a mysterious epoch . For neutral hydrogen to be ionized you necessitate to have very powerful ultraviolet photon . untried stars emit significantly in ultraviolet radiation , but if these stars are buried deep in large galaxies , those photons would be assimilate on the mode and never scarper the galaxy .
The inquiry was published this week inNature . talk to IFLScience , coauthor Anne Verhamme from the University of Geneva say : “ Quasars [ the super - heated material of rubble and gas around a supermassive black hole ] are thought to be not legion enough to have a important donation . Young wiz in extragalactic nebula are considered as the usual suspects among our biotic community of astronomers studying cosmic reionization . ”
Although galaxy are considered the perpetrator , the modal Galax urceolata does n’t emit enough ionizing photon . So the hunt began to look for brawny galaxies . Using the Hubble Space Telescope , the team observe “ green pea ” galaxy J0925 emitting ionizing photon with extraordinary loudness . The emission is more powerful than most galaxies , and if a large population of these object was discovered in the early world , they could for sure explicate how reionization chance .
Although the emission is in ultraviolet , due to the enlargement of the creation , the light from these galaxies will appear in infrared radiation . To find out if the team is right about the light-green pea , it will be necessary to wait for the next generation of blank telescopes . " We need the James Webb Space Telescope because we need an infrared telescope to find them , ” said Verhamme .
Technical limitations and the elementary fact that there were fewer luminous objects in the universe , make reionization unmanageable to study . This discovery will have a significant impact on the field . The squad lay claim in astatementthat “ these discoveries represent an authoritative step for study of the early universe . ”
