A massive stellar bulge in a regularly rotating galaxy 1.2 billion years after the Big Bang

Federico Lelli; Enrico M. Di Teodoro; Filippo Fraternali; Allison W. S. Man; Zhi-Yu Zhang; Carlos De Breuck; Timothy A. Davis; Roberto Maiolino

doi:10.1126/science.abc1893

A massive stellar bulge in a regularly rotating galaxy 1.2 billion years after the Big Bang

Federico Lelli^*, Enrico M. Di Teodoro, Filippo Fraternali, Allison W. S. Man, Zhi-Yu Zhang, Carlos De Breuck, Timothy A. Davis, Roberto Maiolino

^*Corresponding author for this work

Astronomy

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Abstract

Cosmological models predict that galaxies forming in the early Universe experience a chaotic phase of gas accretion and star formation, followed by gas ejection due to feedback processes. Galaxy bulges may assemble later via mergers or internal evolution. Here we present submillimeter observations (with spatial resolution of 700 parsecs) of ALESS 073.1, a starburst galaxy at redshift z≃5 when the Universe was 1.2 billion years old. This galaxy’s cold gas forms a regularly rotating disk with negligible noncircular motions. The galaxy rotation curve requires the presence of a central bulge in addition to a star-forming disk. We conclude that massive bulges and regularly rotating disks can form more rapidly in the early Universe than predicted by models of galaxy formation.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	713-716
Number of pages	4
Journal	Science
Volume	371
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abc1893
Publication status	Published - 1-Feb-2021

Keywords

ASTRONOMY
Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies
Astrophysics - Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics

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10.1126/science.abc1893

A massive stellar bulge in a regularly rotating galaxy 1.2 billion years after the Big BangFinal publisher's version, 2.16 MBLicence: Taverne

https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2021Sci...371..713L

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title = "A massive stellar bulge in a regularly rotating galaxy 1.2 billion years after the Big Bang",

abstract = "Cosmological models predict that galaxies forming in the early Universe experience a chaotic phase of gas accretion and star formation, followed by gas ejection due to feedback processes. Galaxy bulges may assemble later via mergers or internal evolution. Here we present submillimeter observations (with spatial resolution of 700 parsecs) of ALESS 073.1, a starburst galaxy at redshift z≃5 when the Universe was 1.2 billion years old. This galaxy{\textquoteright}s cold gas forms a regularly rotating disk with negligible noncircular motions. The galaxy rotation curve requires the presence of a central bulge in addition to a star-forming disk. We conclude that massive bulges and regularly rotating disks can form more rapidly in the early Universe than predicted by models of galaxy formation.",

keywords = "ASTRONOMY, Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies, Astrophysics - Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics",

author = "Federico Lelli and {Di Teodoro}, {Enrico M.} and Filippo Fraternali and Man, {Allison W. S.} and Zhi-Yu Zhang and {De Breuck}, Carlos and Davis, {Timothy A.} and Roberto Maiolino",

year = "2021",

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doi = "10.1126/science.abc1893",

language = "English",

volume = "371",

pages = "713--716",

journal = "Science",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - A massive stellar bulge in a regularly rotating galaxy 1.2 billion years after the Big Bang

AU - Lelli, Federico

AU - Di Teodoro, Enrico M.

AU - Fraternali, Filippo

AU - Man, Allison W. S.

AU - Zhang, Zhi-Yu

AU - De Breuck, Carlos

AU - Davis, Timothy A.

AU - Maiolino, Roberto

PY - 2021/2/1

Y1 - 2021/2/1

N2 - Cosmological models predict that galaxies forming in the early Universe experience a chaotic phase of gas accretion and star formation, followed by gas ejection due to feedback processes. Galaxy bulges may assemble later via mergers or internal evolution. Here we present submillimeter observations (with spatial resolution of 700 parsecs) of ALESS 073.1, a starburst galaxy at redshift z≃5 when the Universe was 1.2 billion years old. This galaxy’s cold gas forms a regularly rotating disk with negligible noncircular motions. The galaxy rotation curve requires the presence of a central bulge in addition to a star-forming disk. We conclude that massive bulges and regularly rotating disks can form more rapidly in the early Universe than predicted by models of galaxy formation.

AB - Cosmological models predict that galaxies forming in the early Universe experience a chaotic phase of gas accretion and star formation, followed by gas ejection due to feedback processes. Galaxy bulges may assemble later via mergers or internal evolution. Here we present submillimeter observations (with spatial resolution of 700 parsecs) of ALESS 073.1, a starburst galaxy at redshift z≃5 when the Universe was 1.2 billion years old. This galaxy’s cold gas forms a regularly rotating disk with negligible noncircular motions. The galaxy rotation curve requires the presence of a central bulge in addition to a star-forming disk. We conclude that massive bulges and regularly rotating disks can form more rapidly in the early Universe than predicted by models of galaxy formation.

KW - ASTRONOMY

KW - Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies

KW - Astrophysics - Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics

U2 - 10.1126/science.abc1893

DO - 10.1126/science.abc1893

M3 - Article

SN - 0036-8075

VL - 371

SP - 713

EP - 716

JO - Science

JF - Science

ER -

A massive stellar bulge in a regularly rotating galaxy 1.2 billion years after the Big Bang

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