Press/Media: Research
https://www.ras.org.uk/news-and-press/2872-cr7-is-not-alone-a-team-of-super-bright-galaxies-in-the-early-universe
Astronomers have identified a family of incredible galaxies that could shed further light on the transformation of the early Universe known as the ‘epoch of reionisation’. Dr David Sobral of Lancaster University will present their results on Monday 27 June at the National Astronomy Meeting in Nottingham.
About 150 million years after the Big Bang, some 13 billion years ago, the Universe was completely opaque to high energy ultraviolet light, with neutral hydrogen gas blocking its passage. Astronomers have long realised that this situation ended in the so-called ‘epoch of reionisation’, where ultraviolet light from the earliest stars broke open neutral hydrogen atoms, and could start to travel freely through the cosmos. This reionisation period marks a key transition between the relatively simple early cosmos, with normal matter made up of hydrogen and helium, and the universe as we see it today: transparent on large scales and filled with heavier elements.
Title | CR7 is not alone: a team of super bright galaxies in the early Universe |
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Degree of recognition | International |
Date | 27/06/16 |
Persons | David Sobral, Sergio Da Graça Santos |