| Sunburst Galaxy | |
|---|---|
 The bright arcs between 12 and 3 o'clock are the Sunburst Galaxy. A fainter counter-image is seen between 7 o'clock and 9 o'clock.
[1] | |
| Observation data | |
| Constellation | Apus |
| Right ascension | 15h 50m 04.4s |
| Declination | −78° 11′ 00″ |
| Distance | 10.9 billion ly |
The Sunburst galaxy is a strongly magnified galaxy at redshift z=2.38 (10.9 billion light years) behind the galaxy cluster PSZ1 G311.65-18.48. [2]
The cluster acts as a power magnifier thanks to the gravitational lensing effect. The galaxy cluster distorts the space around it creating different paths for the photons coming from the Sunburst galaxy. This lensing creates four arc segment roughly following a circle around the foreground lensing cluster. Chance alignments of the Sunburst Galaxy and galaxies in the lensing cluster breaks up some of the arc segments into multiple smaller images, creating a total of 12 full or partial images of the galaxy along the arc; some of these images are magnified by very large factors. [1] [3] In one of these strongly magnified images of the Sunburst galaxy, astronomers have identified the most luminous star known to date, Godzilla. [3] [4] However, another study suggests that Godzilla is a young massive star cluster consists of thousands of bright stars. [5]
The Sunburst galaxy hosts a massive star cluster that is only 2--4 Myr [6] [7] after formation. The star cluster is very compact, weighing tens of millions of solar masses while having a radius no larger than 10 parsecs. [8] [7] The star cluster is seen to be leaking ionizing radiation into the intergalactic space. [2] In its vicinity, the star cluster excites a dense nebula that is enriched with nitrogen and is likely to have condensed from massive star wind material. [7]
- ^ a b Sharon, K.; Mahler, G.; Rivera-Thorsen, T. E.; Dahle, H.; Gladders, M.; Bayliss, M.; Florian, M.K.; Kim, K.; Khullar, G.; Mainali, R.; Napier, K.; Navarre, A.; Rigby, J. R.; Remolina, J.; Sharma, S. (2022). "The Cosmic Telescope That Lenses the Sunburst Arc, PSZ1 G311.65-18.48: Strong Gravitational Lensing Model and Source Plane Analysis". The Astrophysical Journal. 941 (2): 23pp. arXiv: 2209.03417. Bibcode: 2022ApJ...941..203S. doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/ac927a. S2CID 252118367.
- ^ a b Rivera-Thorsen, R.; Dahle, H.; Gronke, M.; Bayliss, M.; Rigby, J. R.; Simcoe, R.; Bordoloi, R. (2017). "The Sunburst Arc: Direct Lyman α escape observed in the brightest known lensed galaxy". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 608: L4. arXiv: 1710.09482. Bibcode: 2017A&A...608L...4R. doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/201732173. S2CID 54952450.
- ^ a b Diego, J. M.; Pascale, M.; Kavanagh, B. J.; Kelly, P.; Dai, L.; Frye, B.; Broadhurst, T. (2022). "Godzilla, a monster lurks in the Sunburst galaxy". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 665: A134. arXiv: 2203.08158. Bibcode: 2022A&A...665A.134D. doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/202243605. S2CID 247476158.
- ^ "Scientists face down 'Godzilla', the most luminous star known". Nature. 610 (7930): 10. 6 October 2022. Bibcode: 2022Natur.610T..10.. doi: 10.1038/d41586-022-03054-3. S2CID 252598653.
- ^ Pascale, M.; Dai, L. (2024). "A Young Super Star Cluster Powering a Nebula of Retained Massive Star Ejecta". arXiv: 2404.10755 [ astro-ph.GA].
- ^ Chisholm, J.; Rigby, J.; Bayliss, M.; Berg, D.A.; Dahle, H.; Gladders, M.; Sharon, K. (2019). "Constraining the Metallicities, Ages, Star Formation Histories, and Ionizing Continua of Extragalactic Massive Star Populations". Astrophysical Journal. 882 (2): 31. arXiv: 1905.04314. Bibcode: 2019ApJ...882..182C. doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/ab3104.
- ^ a b c Pascale, M.; Dai, L.; McKee, C.; Tsang, B. (2023). "Nitrogen-enriched, Highly Pressurized Nebular Clouds Surrounding a Super Star Cluster at Cosmic Noon". Astrophysical Journal. 957 (2): 20. arXiv: 2301.10790. Bibcode: 2023ApJ...957...77P. doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/acf75c.
- ^ Vanzella, E.; Caminha, G.B. (2020). "Ionizing the intergalactic medium by star clusters: the first empirical evidence". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 491 (2): 1093–1103. arXiv: 1904.07941. Bibcode: 2019ApJ...882..182C. doi: 10.1093/mnras/stz2286.
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