How did it all start? Unveiling the physics of the earliest galaxies


In less than three years since the release of the first data, the James Webb Space Telescope has revolutionised our knowledge and understanding of the evolution of galaxies in the first Gyr after the Big Bang. Thanks to its unprecedented collecting area and IR sensitivity, JWST has allowed us to detect galaxies up to z~15 and to study their physical properties by looking at their rest frame optical emission - both the continuum and the emission line components. The emerging picture is extremely exciting, as it combines confirmations - with galaxies showing an evolution of their rest frame properties as we approach the Big Bang - and surprises, like the slower-than-expected evolution of galaxies beyond z~10 and the large fraction of AGNs that are being detected. In my talk I will review the status of the field, describe some of our latest results on galaxies at z>10 obtained from ongoing spectroscopic programs with NIRSpec and MIRI, and outline open questions that still wait for an answer, including potential constraints to cosmological models.

16/01/2025

The high-profile speaker is Adriano FONTANA from INAF/Rome Observatory.
The Colloquium will be held on Thursday Jan 16th at 11:30 in Sala Jappelli.

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