DATE2025.03.28 #Press Releases

A "Giant Spiral" Discovered 11.5 Billion Light-Years Away

Disclaimer: machine translated by DeepL which may contain errors.

An international research team led by Dr. Hideki Umehata, a specially appointed assistant professor at the Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University (YLC faculty, Institute for Advanced Research), has discovered that the starburst galaxy (monster galaxy) ADF22.A1, located 11.5 billion light-years away, is a rapidly rotating giant spiral galaxy. This discovery was made using the James Webb Space Telescope and the ALMA telescope.

It is believed that such giant spiral galaxies acquire the gas needed for star formation and the angular momentum required for rapid rotation through the abundant inflow of gas from the cosmic web. This study is expected to further reveal the true nature of monster galaxies, which exhibit the most intense star formation in the universe, and to enhance our understanding of the evolution of massive galaxies leading to the present-day universe.

The research results were published in " Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan ” on March 18, 2025 (Japan Standard Time) in collaboration with Assistant Professor Yuichi Matsuda, Lecturer Koichiro Nakanishi, and Associate Professor Daisuke Iono of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Professor Kotaro Kohno of The University of Tokyo, Assistant Professor Mariko Kubo of Tohoku University Graduate School of Science, and others. 

Figure: A false-color image of the stellar component of the monster galaxy ADF22.A1 taken by the James Webb Space Telescope (left) and an image of the dust component taken by the ALMA telescope (right). A giant spiral galaxy emerges behind the large amount of dust.

Related Links

Nagoya University, Tohoku University

Published Journals

Journal name	Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan
Title of paper	ADF22-WEB: A giant barred spiral starburst galaxy in the z = 3.1 SSA22 protocluster core