Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                2021 June 30

         IFRAME: [2]https://www.youtube.com/embed/q9ZCBR-onRw?rel=0

                  Simulation: Formation of the First Stars
            Video Credit: [3]Harley Katz ([4]U. Oxford) [5]et al.

   Explanation: How did the first stars form? To help find out, the SPHINX
   computer simulation of [6]star formation in the very early universe was
   created, some results of which are shown in the [7]featured video. Time
   since the [8]Big Bang is shown in millions of years on the upper left.
   Even 100 million years after the [9]Big Bang, matter was spread [10]too
   uniformly across the cosmos for stars to be born. Besides
   [11]background radiation, the universe was dark. Soon, slight matter
   clumps rich in [12]hydrogen gas begin to coalesce into the [13]first
   stars. In the [14]time-lapse video, purple denotes gas, white denotes
   light, and gold shows radiation so energetic that it [15]ionizes
   hydrogen, breaking it up into charged electrons and protons. The
   gold-colored regions also track the most massive stars that die with
   [16]powerful supernovas. The inset circle highlights a central region
   that is [17]becoming a galaxy. The simulation continues until the
   universe was about 550 million years old. To assess the accuracy of the
   [18]SPHINX simulations and the assumptions that went into them, the
   results are not only being [19]compared to current deep observations,
   but will also be compared with [20]more direct observations of the
   early universe planned with NASA's pending [21]James Web Space
   Telescope.

                       Tomorrow's picture: open space
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    Authors & editors: [33]Robert Nemiroff ([34]MTU) & [35]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([36]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [37]Specific rights apply.
              [38]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [39]ASD at [40]NASA / [41]GSFC
                           & [42]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://www.youtube.com/embed/q9ZCBR-onRw?rel=0
   3. https://www.physics.ox.ac.uk/our-people/katz
   4. https://www.physics.ox.ac.uk/
   5. https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article-abstract/487/4/5902/5520831
   6. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210623.html
   7. https://youtu.be/q9ZCBR-onRw
   8. https://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/focus-areas/what-powered-the-big-bang
   9. https://www.jwst.nasa.gov/content/features/bigBangQandA.html
  10. https://static.onecms.io/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/05/21042210_264995290674140_8840525631411191808_n.jpg
  11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap180722.html
  12. https://periodic.lanl.gov/1.shtml
  13. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-first-stars-in-the-un/
  14. https://youtu.be/BLnsYXEL1B0
  15. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ionization
  16. https://youtu.be/aysiMbgml5g
  17. https://www.jwst.nasa.gov/content/science/firstLight.html
  18. https://arxiv.org/abs/2101.11624
  19. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2021MNRAS.505.3336L/abstract
  20. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2019MNRAS.487.5902K/abstract
  21. https://www.jwst.nasa.gov/
  22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210629.html
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  26. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  31. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=210630
  32. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210701.html
  33. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  34. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  35. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  36. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  37. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  38. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  39. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  40. https://www.nasa.gov/
  41. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  42. http://www.mtu.edu/