Scientists have discovered the origin of oxygen in the universe

Confirming the presence of oxygen in a galaxy 13.1 billion light-years away, the farthest place oxygen has ever been discovered, scientists claim this is the first place in the universe to form this gas. Although oxygen is found not to be the type we breathe every day, this finding not only provides evidence of the origin of oxygen, but also helps scientists better understand how the universe works from the beginning. formation.

The discovery was made by researchers at Japan's National Astronomical Observatory along with several other universities based on data collected by the Atacama Large Millimeter Observatory (MLMA). Two years ago, the team discovered SXDF-NB1006-2 and since then, they have begun to identify the elements present in them as well as when they appeared. Initially, the galaxy must contain hydrogen.

The image of oxygen with the hydrogen that scientists have observed.

However, scientists still question whether there may be an occurrence of oxygen because the question of the origin of this gas in the universe always makes them long anxious. If oxygen appears, the galaxy's model shows that it is still undergoing the re-ionization of the universe , where space radiation will ionize gas clouds. Once these gas clusters are ionized, huge flashes of light will be created.

It is through these powerful rays that researchers believe that ALMA can be used to observe them even at distances of up to 13.1 billion light-years. And finally the "hunch" of scientists was right: a corner of ALMA glass had a flash, showing that there was indeed the presence of oxygen. However, this seems unfriendly as oxygen that we currently breathe because the amount found is less than 1/10 of the amount of oxygen in the Sun.

This discovery has helped scientists determine the age of oxygen in the universe.

However, this discovery helped scientists determine the age of oxygen in the universe . The co-author of the study, Naoki Yoshida at Tokyo University said: "The small amount of oxygen is predictable because the universe is still young and the history of star formation is quite small at that time. In fact, our hypothetical model predicts that oxygen is 10 times worse than the Sun. "

On Earth, the presence of oxygen is associated with life, especially for us humans. Therefore, the detection of oxygen elsewhere in the universe raises questions about the existence of Earth-like habitats or even living organisms. On the other hand, research leader Akio Inoue also said that the oxygen on it is not the same as what we are using because "they are double ionized oxygen molecules. Therefore, we cannot breathe oxygen. in the galaxy 13.1 billion light years ago if you set foot on it ".

The process of formation and re-ionization of oxygen in the universe.

Although the aforementioned oxygen type does not support life as we know it, Inoue said that this discovery could help answer the question of where and when oxygen was first formed in the universe." The oxygen molecules that we found were the first forms of oxygen produced in the universe because oxygen did not exist at Big Bang. In fact, all the heavier elements are produced," he said. out into the stars and liberating into the universe when they die, and oxygen and other elements create dust particles with the ability to form planets and the ability to have life on it. Our research has confirmed the origin of oxygen, one of the most important factors for humans. "

Now scientists have confirmed the existence of oxygen in the distant galaxy, and they will soon study how oxygen can move out there. With the information obtained, they hoped to troubleshoot existing questions and even have other discoveries about life in the universe.