Pristine Big Bang gas found
NOV 11, 2011
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.025702
Discovery News : An ongoing study of gas in distant galaxies by Jason Prochaska of the University of California’s Lick Observatory and his colleagues has led to the discovery of two clouds made solely of hydrogen and its variant, deuterium, about 12 billion light-years away in the constellations of Ursa Major and Leo. According to the current cosmological model, the three lightest elements (hydrogen, helium, and lithium) formed right after the Big Bang about 13.7 billion years ago, and all other elements formed inside stars much later. The discovery could give insight into how galaxies get the gas they need to form stars, and it also supports the prevailing cosmological model ΛCDM.
© 2011 American Institute of Physics
