Alma finds evidence of oxygen in the majority of known galaxies

Astronomers using Atacama’s Large Millimeter/Sub-Millimeter Array (ALMA) detected oxygen in the most perilous confirmed galaxy ever discovered. This detection, made by two different teams, suggests that the galaxy is much more chemically mature than expected.

Discovered in 2024, the Jades-GS-Z14-0 (GS-Z14 for short) is far apart, and its light took 13.4 billion years to reach us. This means that the universe was under 300 million years old, about 2% of its current age.

“It’s like finding adolescence you only expect from a baby,” said PhD Thunder Shues. Leiden Observatory Candidate and First Author of a paper Accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journal.

“The results show that galaxies are forming very rapidly, mature rapidly, and there is growing evidence that galaxies form much faster than expected.”

Galaxies usually begin life filled with young stars. This is mainly made of light elements such as hydrogen and helium.

As the stars evolve, they create heavier elements like oxygen, which will disperse into the host galaxy after exploding in supernova events.

Researchers thought 300 million years ago that the universe was too young to ripen galaxies with heavy elements.

However, two ALMA studies show that GS-Z14 has about 10 times more heavy elements than expected.

The inset of this image shows Jades-GS-Z14-0 seen in Alma. The two spectra arise from independent analysis of ALMA data by two teams of astronomers. Both discover oxygen radiation, making the universe the most distant detection of oxygen just 300 million years ago. Image credits: alma/eso/naoj/nrao/carniani et al. /schouws et al. /NASA/ESA/CSA/WEBB/STSCI/BRANT ROBERTSON… etc.

“They opened up a new perspective on the first stages of Galaxy’s evolution and were surprised by the unexpected results,” said Dr. Stefano Carniani, an astronomer at the Scola Normal Superore in Pisa and lead author. paper Published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics.

“Evidence that galaxies are already matured in the infantile universe raises questions about when and how they formed.”

Oxygen detection allowed astronomers to make distance measurements on the GS-Z14 more accurate.

“ALMA detection measures galaxy distances very accurately to just 0.005% uncertainty,” says PhD Eleonora Parlanti. A student at the Scola Normal Supers in Pisa.

“This level of accuracy is similar to being accurate within 5 cm at a distance of 1 km, but it helps to improve our understanding of distant galactic properties.”

“The galaxy was originally discovered by NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb’s space telescope, but Alma took it to see and accurately determine its huge distance,” said Dr. Leichard Boowens, an astronomer at the Leiden Observatory.

“This shows an incredible synergy between Alma and Webb, revealing the formation and evolution of the first galaxy.”

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Thunder Shues et al. 2025. Detecting [OIII]88μm with Jades-GS-Z14-0 at Z = 14.1793. APJin press; Arxiv: 2409.20549

Stefano Carniani et al. 2025. The eventful life of a bright galaxy at Z = 14: metal enrichment, feedback, and low-gas fractions? A&Ain press; doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/202452451