Star formation in cosmic-dawn galaxies

TL;DR

This paper discusses early JWST observations revealing the formation and evolution of the first galaxies in the universe, highlighting new discoveries and their implications for understanding galaxy formation physics.

Contribution

It presents new insights from JWST data on early galaxy populations, including unexpected bright galaxies and black holes, refining models of galaxy formation in the early universe.

Findings

Discovery of large populations of bright early galaxies

Detection of accreting black holes in the early universe

Confirmation of the cosmological framework of galaxy formation

Abstract

In the first two years of operation JWST has delivered key new insights into the formation and evolution of galaxies in the early Universe. By combining imaging with spectroscopy, we discovered and characterised the first generation of galaxies, probing the Universe at an age of 300 million years. While the current JWST observations confirm the overall cosmological framework and the paradigm of galaxy formation, there are also surprises, including large abundances of bright galaxies and accreting black holes in the early Universe. These observations, together with detailed measurements of the stellar populations and morphological structure, will help us to develop in the coming years a more refined understanding of the baryonic physics (including star formation and feedback processes) that leads to the formation of mature systems at later epochs, including our own Milky Way galaxy.