ALMA finds 'monster' starburst galaxies in the early universe

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Source: Eurekalert

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) telescope have discovered starburst galaxies earlier in the Universe's history than they were previously thought to have existed. These newly discovered galaxies represent what today's most massive galaxies looked like in their energetic, star-forming youth. The research is the most recent example of the discoveries coming from the new international ALMA observatory, which celebrates its inauguration today.

The results, published in a set of papers to appear in the journal Nature and in the Astrophysical Journal, will help astronomers better understand when and how the earliest massive galaxies formed.

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Using only 16 of ALMA's eventual full complement of 66 antennas, the researchers were able to precisely determine the distance to 18 of these galaxies, revealing that they were among the most distant starburst galaxies ever detected, seen when the Universe was only one to three billion years old. These results were surprising because very few similar galaxies had previously been discovered at similar distances, and it wasn't clear how galaxies that early in the history of the Universe could produce stars at such a prodigious rate.

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In fact, two of these galaxies are the most distant starburst galaxies published to date - so distant that their light began its journey when the Universe was only one billion years old. Intriguingly, emission from water molecules was detected in one of these record-breakers, making it the most distant detection of water in the Universe published to date.

"ALMA's sensitivity and wide wavelength range mean we could make our measurements in just a few minutes per galaxy - about one hundred times faster than before," said Axel Weiss of the Max-Planck-Institute for Radioastronomy in Bonn, Germany, who led the work to measure the distances to the galaxies. "Previously, a measurement like this would be a laborious process of combining data from both visible-light and radio telescopes."

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Read more: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-03/nrao-af031213.php

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1. World’s largest observatory opens

http://www.gulf-times.com/us-latin%20america/182/details/345403/world’s-largest-space-observatory-opens

World’s largest space observatory opens
10:27 PM 13 March 2013
AFP/Santiago

In a super-arid desert at an altitude of 5,000 metres, with almost no humidity or vegetation, the world’s largest ground-based astronomy project opened for business yesterday ready to probe the universe with unprecedented might.

“What is so very special about this place is that, right here above our heads, there is virtually no water vapour. There is just so little that whatever light is emitted from a heavenly body, galaxy or star, it gets here with no interference” explained Gianni Marconi, an astronomer with the Atacama Large Millimeter-submillimeter Array, better known as ALMA (Spanish for “soul”).

“And this is the largest observatory that has ever been built,” Marconi underscored proudly.

ALMA is a joint effort among North American, European and Asian agencies. And when scientists went looking for a place to put this world’s biggest ground array of telescopes, they looked for a spot that was high altitude, low humidity, sunny and boasting fairly easy logistical access.

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2. Monster Starbursts Seen by New Radio Telescope

http://news.discovery.com/space/astronomy/embargoed-til-2pm-est-13-march-monster-starbursts-seen-by-alma-130313.htm

Monster Starbursts Seen by New Radio Telescope
Mar 13, 2013 01:07 PM ET // by Nicole Gugliucci

With new instruments coming online, the most distant (and youngest) regions of our universe are finally being explored in depth.

This week, the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array, or ALMA, is being dedicated, and they’re celebrating with an amazing new study of some of the most distant prolifically star-forming galaxies.

The millimeter and submillimeter wave bands can be thought of as very short wavelength radio astronomy, or very long wavelength infrared. For decades, it’s been a hard region of the electromagnetic spectrum to probe since water vapor in our atmosphere causes a lot of absorption and distortion, and the challenges that go into the technology are non-trivial.

But after 30 years of plotting and planning, an international collaboration has succeeded in creating a sensitive instrument at a high dry mountain site that can fully open up this part of the universe.

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7. That is beautiful

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3. ALMA Inauguration: Journey to the Atacama

http://news.discovery.com/space/astronomy/journey-to-the-atacama-part-i-130311.htm

ALMA Inauguration: Journey to the Atacama
Mar 11, 2013 10:58 PM ET // by Nicole Gugliucci

ALMA. In Spanish, it means “soul.” To radio astronomers, it is the future of millimeter wave astronomy. No, wait. I take that back. It is the telescope of the PRESENT.

I am currently in Chile for the inauguration of ALMA, the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array. The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) and Associated Universities Incorporated (AUI) are generously hosting twelve science journalists to attend the events on site.

This 66-dish radio interferometer will be completed by the end of the year, but first science results have already blown away the telescope’s new users in the astronomical community. With much higher sensitivity than existing facilities, as well as its location at one of the driest and highest sites in the world, ALMA is set to bring new advances to the study of planet formation, star formation, and galaxies in the early universe. Really, this telescope is all about studying things that are young, according to AUI president Ethan Schreier, in a conversation about science targets during one of the inauguration events.

Our trip began with a jaunt around Santiago, Chile, for some excellent food and a bit of sightseeing while we all got to know each other and our hosts, John Stoke, Tania Burchell, and Charles Blue of the NRAO in Charlottesville, Virginia, my former hometown.

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4. Thank you for posting these...this stuff is ENTHRALLING

It's so difficult to imagine the distance in space and time. I find it endlessly fascinating.

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5. It's also a bit humbling, in a good way.

Puts some perspective on things here on earth.

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6. First image