Witnessing the onset of reionisation via Lyman-$\alpha$ emission at redshift 13

Abstract

$\require{mediawiki-texvc}$Cosmic Reionisation commenced when ultraviolet (UV) radiation produced in the first galaxies began illuminating the cold, neutral gas that filled the primordial Universe. Recent James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) observations have shown that surprisingly UV-bright galaxies were in place beyond redshift $z=14$, when the Universe was less than $300\mathrm{Myr}$ old. Smooth turnovers of their UV continua have been interpreted as damping-wing absorption of Lyman-$\alpha$ (Ly$\alpha$), the principal hydrogen transition. However, spectral signatures encoding crucial properties of these sources, such as their emergent radiation field, largely remain elusive. Here we report spectroscopy from the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES) of a galaxy at redshift $z=13.0$ that reveal a singular, bright emission line unambiguously identified as Ly$\alpha$, in addition to a smooth turnover. We observe an equivalent width of ${\text{EW}}_{\mathrm{Ly}\alpha }>40\mathring{A}$ (rest frame), previously only seen at $z<9$ where the intervening intergalactic medium (IGM) becomes increasingly ionised. Together with an extremely blue UV continuum, the unexpected Ly$\alpha$ emission indicates the galaxy is a prolific producer and leaker of ionising photons. This suggests massive, hot stars or an active galactic nucleus (AGN) have created an early reionised region to prevent complete extinction of Ly$\alpha$, thus shedding new light on the nature of the earliest galaxies and the onset of Reionisation only $330\mathrm{Myr}$ after the Big Bang.

22 pages, 12 figures, 4 tables. This version of the article has been accepted for publication, after peer review (when applicable) but is not the Version of Record and does not reflect post-acceptance improvements, or any corrections. The Version of Record is available online at: https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-08779-5

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