大多数再电离宇宙的光子来自矮星系
Hakim Atek1, Ivo Labbé2, Lukas J Furtak3
1Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Paris, France. hakim.atek@iap.fr.
Nature
|February 28, 2024
概括
超微弱的星系对宇宙再电离有很大的贡献. 这些星系产生的电离光子比以前的估计高出四倍,
科学领域:
- 宇宙学
- 天体物理学
- 早期的宇宙研究
背景情况:
- 太空再电离使早期的宇宙从中性变成了电离等离子体.
- 主要驱动再电离的源头,如类星体和明亮的星系,仍然存在争议.
- 之前的研究缺乏关于微弱星系的全面数据,因为它们的亮度很低.
研究的目的:
- 研究超微弱星系在宇宙再电离中的作用.
- 在再电离时代对低亮度星系的电离光子产生进行光谱分析.
- 确定微弱的星系是否可能是再电离的主要来源.
主要方法:
- 分析了8个极微弱的星系,绝对数值在-17和-15之间.
- 在再电离时代对这些星系进行光谱研究.
- 电离光子产生率 (ξion) 的计算和与理论模型的比较.
主要成果:
- 超弱星系的电离光子产生率更高 (log[ξion] = 25.80 ± 0.14),大约是假设值的四倍.
- 即使逃逸率低 (约5%),这些微弱星系的电离光子速率也足以驱动再电离.
- 观测到的场所表明微弱星系对整体电离预算有显著的贡献.
结论:
- 超微弱的星系是宇宙再离子化的关键,潜在的主导因素.
- 这些星系的高离子发射率挑战了以往专注于类星体和明亮星系的模型.
- 需要对微弱星系的大规模分布进行进一步的研究,以确认它们在再离子化中的作用.
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