Search Publications
Evidence for heavy-seed origin of early supermassive black holes from a z ≈ 10 X-ray quasar
Churazov, Eugene; Goulding, Andy D.; Jones, Christine +9 more
Observations of quasars reveal that many supermassive black holes (BHs) were in place less than 700 Myr after the Big Bang. However, the origin of the first BHs remains a mystery. Seeds of the first BHs are postulated to be either light (that is, 10‑100 M⊙), remnants of the first stars, or heavy (that is, 10‑105 M⊙…
A fast-rotator post-starburst galaxy quenched by supermassive black-hole feedback at z = 3
Pérez-González, Pablo G.; Chevallard, Jacopo; Parlanti, Eleonora +23 more
The most massive galaxies in the Universe stopped forming stars due to the time-integrated feedback from central supermassive black holes (SMBHs). However, the exact quenching mechanism is not yet understood, because local massive galaxies were quenched billions of years ago. Here we present JWST/NIRSpec integral-field spectroscopy observations of…
Deciphering Lyman-α emission deep into the epoch of reionization
Pérez-González, Pablo G.; Santini, Paola; Grogin, Norman A. +18 more
During the epoch of reionization, the first galaxies were enshrouded in pristine neutral gas, with one of the brightest emission lines in star-forming galaxies, Lyman α (Lyα), expected to remain undetected until the Universe became ionized. Providing an explanation for the surprising detection of Lyα in these early galaxies is a major challenge fo…
X-ray eruptions every 22 days from the nucleus of a nearby galaxy
Gendreau, Keith; van Velzen, Sjoert; Gezari, Suvi +15 more
Galactic nuclei showing recurrent phases of activity and quiescence have recently been discovered. Some have recurrence times as short as a few hours to a day and are known as quasi-periodic X-ray eruption (QPE) sources. Others have recurrence times as long as hundreds to a thousand days and are called repeating nuclear transients. Here we present…
A massive interacting galaxy 510 million years after the Big Bang
Santini, Paola; Castellano, Marco; Fontana, Adriano +26 more
James Webb Space Telescope observations have spectroscopically confirmed the existence of galaxies as early as 300 Myr after the Big Bang and with a higher number density than what was expected based on galaxy formation models and Hubble Space Telescope observations. Yet, most sources confirmed spectroscopically so far in the first 500 Myr have re…
Cygnus X-3 revealed as a Galactic ultraluminous X-ray source by IXPE
Ingram, Adam; Kaaret, Philip; Wu, Kinwah +127 more
The accretion of matter by compact objects can be inhibited by radiation pressure if the luminosity exceeds a critical value known as the Eddington limit. The discovery of ultraluminous X-ray sources has shown that accretion can proceed even when the apparent luminosity considerably exceeds this limit. A high apparent luminosity might be produced …
Nightside clouds and disequilibrium chemistry on the hot Jupiter WASP-43b
Carter, Aarynn L.; Gibson, Neale P.; Helling, Christiane +80 more
Hot Jupiters are among the best-studied exoplanets, but it is still poorly understood how their chemical composition and cloud properties vary with longitude. Theoretical models predict that clouds may condense on the nightside and that molecular abundances can be driven out of equilibrium by zonal winds. Here we report a phase-resolved emission s…
JWST detection of a supernova associated with GRB 221009A without an r-process signature
Rest, Armin; Villar, V. Ashley; Yadavalli, S. Karthik +18 more
Identifying the sites of r-process nucleosynthesis, a primary mechanism of heavy element production, is a key goal of astrophysics. The discovery of the brightest gamma-ray burst (GRB) to date, GRB 221009A, presented an opportunity to spectroscopically test the idea that r-process elements are produced following the collapse of rapidly rotating ma…
A mature quasar at cosmic dawn revealed by JWST rest-frame infrared spectroscopy
Henning, Thomas; Costantin, Luca; Langeroodi, Danial +29 more
The rapid assembly of the first supermassive black holes is an enduring mystery. Until now, it was not known whether quasar `feeding' structures (the `hot torus') could assemble as fast as the smaller-scale quasar structures. We present JWST/MRS (rest-frame infrared) spectroscopic observations of the quasar J1120+0641 at z = 7.0848 (well within th…
Spectroscopic sizing of interstellar icy grains with JWST
Rocha, W. R. M.; Melnick, G. J.; Boogert, A. C. A. +22 more
Clouds of gas and dust in the Galaxy are nurseries in which stars and planetary systems are born. During their journey from the diffuse interstellar medium to the protoplanetary disks, molecular solids accumulate on cold dust grains by accretion and surface chemistry. These so-called icy grains will continuously evolve, notably by collision and ag…