ESO: APEX: Close-up of Star Factories in Distant Universe

[bystander]

APEX Snaps First Close-up of Star Factories in Distant Universe
eso1012 - 2101 March 21

For the first time, astronomers have made direct measurements of the size and brightness of regions of star-birth in a very distant galaxy, thanks to a chance discovery with the APEX telescope. The galaxy is so distant, and its light has taken so long to reach us, that we see it as it was 10 billion years ago. A cosmic “gravitational lens” is magnifying the galaxy, giving us a close-up view that would otherwise be impossible. This lucky break reveals a hectic and vigorous star-forming life for galaxies in the early Universe, with stellar nurseries forming one hundred times faster than in more recent galaxies. The research is published online today in the journal Nature.

Intense star formation within resolved compact regions in a galaxy at z = 2.3

• Nature | 21 March 2010 | doi:10.1038/nature08880 (eso preprint)

[bystander]

Astronomers Get Sharpest View Ever of Star Factories in Distant Universe
CfA 2010-04 - 2010 March 21

Astronomers have combined a natural gravitational lens and a sophisticated telescope array to get the sharpest view ever of "star factories" in a galaxy over 10 billion light-years from Earth. They found that the distant galaxy, known as SMM J2135-0102, is making new stars 250 times faster than our Galaxy, the Milky Way.

They also pinpointed four discrete star-forming regions within the galaxy, each over 100 times brighter than locations (like the Orion Nebula) where stars form in our Galaxy. This is the first time that astronomers have been able to study properties of individual star-forming regions within a galaxy so far from Earth.

[bystander]

Early galaxy went through 'teenage growth spurt'
Royal Astronomical Society - 2010 March 21

Scientists have found a massive galaxy in the early Universe creating stars like our Sun up to 100 times faster than the modern-day Milky Way.

The team of international researchers, led by Durham University scientist and Royal Astronomical Society Norman Lockyer Fellow Dr Mark Swinbank, described the finding as like seeing “a teenager going through a growth spurt”.

Due to the amount of time it takes light to reach Earth the scientists observed the galaxy, known as SMM J2135-0102, as it would have appeared 10 billion years ago – just three billion years after the Big Bang.