Science Highlight

ALMA Detects [O III] 88μm Emission from a z ~ 14 Galaxy

The sensitivity of ALMA is making it possible to conduct follow-up observations of high-redshift JWST galaxy candidates to (a) confirm their redshifts and (b) derive galaxy properties. In a recently published study led by Sander Schouws, the authors make use of ALMA to search for [O III] 88μm line emission from JADES-GS-z14-0. The galaxy had previously being shown to have a strong break feature detected with JWST NIRSPEC at 1.85μm - if this feature is the Lyman break, the redshift of the galaxy is z ~ 14. Further the C III] 𝜆𝜆1907,9 angstrom line is detected at 3.6𝜎 - the line places the galaxy at a z ~ 14.178±0.013. ALMA observations in two tunings in the 218 to 229 GHz frequency range result in the detection of the [O III] line at 6.6𝜎. The measured redshift is z ~ 14.1793±0.0007, consistent with the derived redshifts from JWST. The authors conclude the paper by presenting evidence that JADES-GS-z14-0 has a high metal enrichment for a galaxy being observed 300 Myr after the Big Bang, inferring that significant evolution has already taken place in this early Universe galaxy.