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Impact of radiation from early stars on primordial gas
This image shows the impact of radiation from early stars on surrounding primordial gas in the early universe. Early stars, fueled by molecular hydrogen (green), release high-energy radiation that creates regions of ionized gas (blue). When a star is active, the surrounding molecular hydrogen is completely dissipated, preventing further star formation. As stars decay, radiation levels decline and molecular hydrogen begins to reform. After decay, molecular hydrogen concentrates within the residual ionization "bubbles" that remain after the star's extinction.
This simulation was created at the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC). TACC is supported by the National Science Foundation, The University of Texas at Austin, the UT System, and grants from other federal agencies. As a leading resource provider in the NSF XSEDE (Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment) project, TACC is one of 11 centers across the country providing leadership-class computing resources to the national research community. To learn more, visit the TACC website Here. (Date of Image: 2007-08)
Credit: Paul A. Navratil, Texas Advanced Computing Center, The University of Texas at Austin; Jarrett L. Johnson and Volker Bromm, Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin; Thomas H. Greif, Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Heidelberg, Germany
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