Scientists have discovered a non-rotating galaxy in the early Universe

With the help of the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have discovered a galaxy that violates the basic concepts of the structure of the universe: it is completely devoid of rotation, although it existed less than 2 billion years after the Big Bang. The study is published in the journal Nature Astronomy.

"This galaxy showed no signs of rotation, which was unexpected and very interesting for us," said Ben Forrest, the first author of the study.

According to established theories, the angular momentum of gas falling on an emerging galaxy sets its rotation, which persists for billions of years. The lack of rotation during the chaotic movement of stars is a sign of the largest and most "mature" galaxies that have gone through many mergers throughout the history of the universe. To discover such an object in such an early epoch is an exceptional phenomenon.

The galaxy XMM-VID1-2075 attracted the attention of scientists even before the James Webb observations: in terms of the number of stars, it was several times larger than the modern Milky Way and had already stopped star formation. Of the three ancient galaxies covered by the new study, one rotates normally, the other shows chaotic motion, and only XMM-VID1-2075 does not rotate at all — its stars move in random directions.

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The most likely explanation is a head—on collision of two galaxies rotating in opposite directions: their angular momenta were mutually extinguished. This hypothesis is supported by an excess of light detected from the side of the galaxy: most likely, it is a companion object absorbed by the system and disrupting its dynamics.

Scientists point out that a number of computer simulations assume the existence of non-rotating galaxies in the early stages of the history of the universe, but predict their extreme rarity. If further observations reveal such objects much more frequently than expected, existing models of galactic evolution will require revision.

On May 27, Universe Today magazine reported the discovery of a supermassive black hole, QSO1, formed before the stars of its own galaxy. The full name of the space object is Abell2744-QSO1. According to astronomers, the weight of the black hole is 50 million solar masses.