Population III stars and the shape of the cosmological black body radiation
Abstract
The paper presents a theory of the distortion of the cosmological thermal spectrum by pregalactic dust which appears to fit the recent data. The basic idea is to consider the possibility that the opacity of the universe in the pregalactic phase (redshift of the order of 10 or more) may have been dominated by dust at a wavelength near the peak of intensity of the cosmological black body at that time. This hypothesis is quite natural within the framework of a model of the universe in which population III stars can produce a fraction of the observed abundances of helium and of the heavier elements, which might condense into dust. It is suggested that the formation of a small mass fraction of dust (about 0.001) near z equals 10, together with sufficient energy release, explains the shape of the observed distortion.
- Publication:
-
Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Pub Date:
- March 1980
- Bibcode:
- 1980A&A....83L..10P
- Keywords:
-
- Black Body Radiation;
- Cosmology;
- Star Distribution;
- Cosmic Dust;
- Galactic Evolution;
- Opacity;
- Populations;
- Radiative Transfer;
- Astrophysics