Hu Esther M, Cowie Lennox L
Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA.
Nature. 2006 Apr 27;440(7088):1145-50. doi: 10.1038/nature04806.
We now see many galaxies as they were only 800 million years after the Big Bang, and that limit may soon be exceeded when wide-field infrared detectors are widely available. Multi-wavelength studies show that there was relatively little star formation at very early times and that star formation was at its maximum at about half the age of the Universe. A small number of high-redshift objects have been found by targeting X-ray and radio sources and most recently, gamma-ray bursts. The gamma-ray burst sources may provide a way to reach even higher-redshift galaxies in the future, and to probe the first generation of stars.
我们现在看到的许多星系是在大爆炸仅8亿年后的样子，当宽视场红外探测器广泛可用时，这个时间限制可能很快就会被突破。多波长研究表明，在非常早期的时候恒星形成相对较少，而恒星形成在宇宙年龄大约一半时达到最大值。通过瞄准X射线和射电源，以及最近的伽马射线暴，已经发现了少量高红移天体。伽马射线暴源可能为未来发现更高红移星系以及探测第一代恒星提供一种途径。
