Suzaku Study Points to Early Cosmic 'Seeding'

  • Released Wednesday, October 30, 2013
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Most of the universe's heavy elements, including the iron in our blood, formed early in cosmic history and spread throughout the universe, according to a new study of the Perseus Galaxy Cluster using Japan's Suzaku satellite.

Between 2009 and 2011, researchers from the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (KIPAC), jointly run by Stanford University and the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in California, used Suzaku's unique capabilities to map the distribution of iron throughout the Perseus Galaxy Cluster.

What they found is remarkable: Across the cluster, which spans more than 11 million light-years of space, the concentration of X-ray-emitting iron is essentially uniform in all directions.

This tells astronomers that iron — and by extension other heavy elements — already was widely dispersed throughout the universe when the cluster began to form. Explaining this helps scientists better understand what the universe was like 10 to 12 billion years ago, a time when rapid-fire supernova explosions were common and black holes were especially active.

The universe underwent a turbulent youth 10 to 12 billion years ago, as shown in this illustration. Stars formed at very high rates, but many of these newborn stars died quickly in supernova explosions that produced the chemical elements beyond helium - the building blocks of later stars, planets and life. In the same period, supermassive black holes in the centers of galaxies devoured large amounts of the gas around them, producing strong jets and outflows. The combined energy from numerous supernova explosions and black hole jets created powerful "winds" that blew these elements out of the galaxies, into intergalactic space.Credit: Akihiro Ikeshita

The universe underwent a turbulent youth 10 to 12 billion years ago, as shown in this illustration. Stars formed at very high rates, but many of these newborn stars died quickly in supernova explosions that produced the chemical elements beyond helium - the building blocks of later stars, planets and life. In the same period, supermassive black holes in the centers of galaxies devoured large amounts of the gas around them, producing strong jets and outflows. The combined energy from numerous supernova explosions and black hole jets created powerful "winds" that blew these elements out of the galaxies, into intergalactic space.

Credit: Akihiro Ikeshita

Young stars, exploding supernovae, and voraciously feeding black holes produced powerful winds 10 to 12 billion years ago. The spoon in this illustration represents the outflows that lifted heavy elements from young galaxies and mixed it with the intergalactic gas.Credit: Akihiro Ikeshita

Young stars, exploding supernovae, and voraciously feeding black holes produced powerful winds 10 to 12 billion years ago. The spoon in this illustration represents the outflows that lifted heavy elements from young galaxies and mixed it with the intergalactic gas.

Credit: Akihiro Ikeshita

Suzaku explored faint X-ray emission from hot gas throughout the Perseus Galaxy Cluster. The satellite recorded image strips along eight different directions, shown here in false color, for a total exposure exceeding 11.5 days. Bluer colors indicate fainter X-ray emission. The dashed circle marks the cluster's effective boundary, where new gas is now entering, and is 2.7 degrees wide.Credit: NASA/ISAS/DSS/O. Urban al., MNRAS

Suzaku explored faint X-ray emission from hot gas throughout the Perseus Galaxy Cluster. The satellite recorded image strips along eight different directions, shown here in false color, for a total exposure exceeding 11.5 days. Bluer colors indicate fainter X-ray emission. The dashed circle marks the cluster's effective boundary, where new gas is now entering, and is 2.7 degrees wide.

Credit: NASA/ISAS/DSS/O. Urban al., MNRAS

Suzaku explored faint X-ray emission from hot gas throughout the Perseus Galaxy Cluster. The satellite recorded image strips along eight different directions, shown here in false color, for a total exposure exceeding 11.5 days. Bluer colors indicate fainter X-ray emission. The dashed circle marks the cluster's effective boundary, where new gas is now entering, and is 2.7 degrees wide. Unlabeled.Credit: NASA/ISAS/DSS/O. Urban al., MNRAS

Suzaku explored faint X-ray emission from hot gas throughout the Perseus Galaxy Cluster. The satellite recorded image strips along eight different directions, shown here in false color, for a total exposure exceeding 11.5 days. Bluer colors indicate fainter X-ray emission. The dashed circle marks the cluster's effective boundary, where new gas is now entering, and is 2.7 degrees wide. Unlabeled.

Credit: NASA/ISAS/DSS/O. Urban al., MNRAS

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This page was originally published on Wednesday, October 30, 2013.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 at 1:51 PM EDT.

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