Free Astronomy Magazine January-February 2022

40 JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2022 ASTRO PUBLISHING W ater has been detected in the most massive galaxy in the early Universe, accord- ing to new observations from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submil- limeter Array (ALMA). Scientists studying SPT0311-58 found H 2 O, along with carbon monoxide in the galaxy, which is located nearly 12.88 billion light years from Earth. Detec- tion of these two molecules in abun- dance suggests that the molecular Universe was going strong shortly after the elements were forged in early stars. The new research com- prises the most detailed study of molecular gas content of a galaxy in the early Universe to date and the most distant detection of H 2 O in a regular star-forming galaxy. ALMA detects signs of water in a galaxy far, far away by ALMA Observatory Nicolás Lira T his artist’s conception shows the dust continuum and molecular lines of car- bon monoxide and water seen in the pair of galaxies known as SPT0311-58. ALMA data reveals abundant CO and H 2 O in the larger of the two galaxies, in- dicating that the molecular Universe was going strong shortly after the ele- ments were initially forged. [ALMA (ESO/ NAOJ/NRAO)/S. Dagnello (NRAO)]