ALMA and Hubble Observations Probe a Giant Blob, Himiko, Seen Close to Cosmic Dawn
| Science
Combining the capabilities of two powerful telescopes, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have explored the nature of a mysterious huge object called “Himiko” in the early universe. The observations reveal that three primitive stellar clumps are about to be merged and forming a larger object. The observations provide an important insight of the earliest phase of galaxy formation at a time termed “Cosmic Dawn” when the universe was first bathed in starlight.

The research findings are presented in the article “An Intensely Star-Forming Galaxy at z~7 with Low Dust and Metal Content Revealed by Deep ALMA and HST Observations” published in the Astrophysical Journal, Volume 778 of December 1, 2013.