A giant disk galaxy two billion years after the Big Bang
A disk galaxy at z = 3.25, two billion years after the Big Bang, is far larger and more massive than other early disks and resembles the biggest disks of today.
What was found
- Disks seen about three billion years after the Big Bang are much smaller than today’s disks of similar mass, as galaxy models predict.
- The galaxy at redshift 3.25 is larger than other early disks confirmed through their kinematics, and comparable in size and mass to the largest disks in the local Universe.
- JWST data show spiral arms, and the rotation is consistent with the local Tully–Fisher relation.
- It sits in a crowded region with more than ten times the average galaxy density and frequent mergers, so gas-rich accretion and gentle mergers may have helped it grow.
This summary is written for a general audience. The paper has the full details.
Cite this paper
Wang, W., et al. 2025, Nat. Astron., 9, 710–719, doi:10.1038/s41550-025-02500-2
@article{wang2025,
author = {Wang, Weichen and others},
title = {{A giant disk galaxy two billion years after the Big Bang}},
journal = {Nature Astronomy},
year = {2025},
volume = {9},
pages = {710--719},
doi = {10.1038/s41550-025-02500-2},
eprint = {2409.17956},
archivePrefix = {arXiv}
}