First Stars Found: Webb Peers into the Universe's Childhood ⚡ экспресс
Astronomers have found the first object that meets three key predictions for Population III stars (the very first generation of stars, made only of hydrogen and helium). This is the star LAP1-B, seen at z=6.6 through the gravitational lens of the MACS J0416 cluster. It formed in a dark matter halo with extremely low metallicity (heavy element content), has an unusually large mass, and belongs to a small cluster of massive stars. Models show that at such redshifts we should on average see only one such object, making the find expected, but no less important.
The space telescope James Webb has for the first time caught light from stars of pure hydrogen and helium — just what the very first stars after the Big Bang are believed to have been made of. A giant cluster of galaxies MACS J0416 helped to see them: its gravity acted as a cosmic magnifying glass, amplifying the faint glimmer of the distant galaxy LAP1-B.
The newborn stars inside it fit theoretical predictions perfectly. They arise in tiny clumps of dark matter — the invisible framework of the cosmos. Each star is a true heavyweight, a hundred times more massive than the Sun, while the whole cluster weighs in at only a couple of thousand solar masses. Some of them have already exploded as supernovae, enriching the surrounding gas with heavier elements.
Here's the twist: the very, very first stars ignited even earlier, but their light is so faint that even Webb couldn't spot them. LAP1-B isn't the absolute beginning, but a rare chance to see an almost pristine past. According to calculations, only one such object appears in the entire sky.
🎯 The gas temperature in the 'cradles' of these stars was lower than in a pizza oven — just about a thousand degrees, which by cosmic standards is very cold.