1000–10,000 <i>M</i> <sub>⊙</sub> Primordial Stars Created the Nitrogen Excess in GS 3073 at <i>z</i> = 5.55

Abstract The advent of the James Webb Space Telescope has revealed a wealth of new galaxies just a few hundred Myr after the Big Bang, a few of which exhibit unusual N/O ratios that are difficult to explain with stellar populations today. While Wolf–Rayet stars in multiple-burst populations, very massive or rapidly rotating primordial stars, general relativistic explosions of metal-enriched supermassive stars, or the precursors of globular clusters can in principle account for the N excess in the galaxies GN-z11 and CEERS 1019, no known stars or supernovae can explain the far higher N/O ratio of 0.46 in GS 3073 at redshift z = 5.55. Here we show that the extreme N abundances in GS 3073 can be produced by 1000–10,000 M ⊙ primordial (Pop III) stars. We find that these are the only candidates that can account for its large N/O ratios and its C/O and Ne/O ratios. GS 3073 is thus the first conclusive evidence in the fossil abundance record of the existence of supermassive Pop III stars at cosmic dawn.

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Publication Details

Journal
The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Published
2025-11-12
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ae1a63
Citations
4
Primary Topic
Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
4.62
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article

1000–10,000 M ⊙ Primordial Stars Created the Nitrogen Excess in GS 3073 at z = 5.55

Daniel J. Whalen, Muhammad Latif, Alexander Heger, Devesh Nandal
4 citations
The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
4.62
article

1000–10,000 M ⊙ Primordial Stars Created the Nitrogen Excess in GS 3073 at z = 5.55

Daniel J. Whalen, Muhammad Latif, Alexander Heger, Devesh Nandal
article en
4 citations

Abstract

Abstract The advent of the James Webb Space Telescope has revealed a wealth of new galaxies just a few hundred Myr after the Big Bang, a few of which exhibit unusual N/O ratios that are difficult to explain with stellar populations today. While Wolf–Rayet stars in multiple-burst populations, very massive or rapidly rotating primordial stars, general relativistic explosions of metal-enriched supermassive stars, or the precursors of globular clusters can in principle account for the N excess in the galaxies GN-z11 and CEERS 1019, no known stars or supernovae can explain the far higher N/O ratio of 0.46 in GS 3073 at redshift z = 5.55. Here we show that the extreme N abundances in GS 3073 can be produced by 1000–10,000 M ⊙ primordial (Pop III) stars. We find that these are the only candidates that can account for its large N/O ratios and its C/O and Ne/O ratios. GS 3073 is thus the first conclusive evidence in the fossil abundance record of the existence of supermassive Pop III stars at cosmic dawn.

The Astrophysical Journal LettersVol. 994(1)
United Arab Emirates University (AE), Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian (US), University of Virginia (US), Monash University (AU), University of Portsmouth (GB)
Openalex Percentile: Top 5%
Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
4.62
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1000–10,000 <i>M</i> <sub>⊙</sub> Primordial Stars Created the Nitrogen Excess in GS 3073 at <i>z</i> = 5.55 — Daniel J. Whalen, Muhammad Latif, et al. · The Astrophysical Journal Letters (2025) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS