High-redshift HeII emitter observations confirm a >50% PopIII stellar mass fraction and favor top-heavy IMFs for the first stars with total masses 2e4 to 6e5 solar masses.
The search for Population III: Confirmation of a HeII emitter with no metal lines at z=10.6
3 Pith papers cite this work. Polarity classification is still indexing.
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Pith papers citing it
abstract
We report the confirmation of a HeII$\lambda$1640 emitter located at 3 pkpc from the galaxy GN-z11, at z=10.6. The detection, based on JWST NIRSpec-IFU high-resolution spectroscopy, confirms a previous claim based on medium-resolution spectroscopy. The HeII$\lambda$1640 identification is further supported by the independent detection of H$\gamma$ obtained by \"Ubler et al. (2026) at the same location. The HeII emission is spectrally resolved in two components separated by 120 km/s. The Equivalent Width of the HeII emission is extremely high ($>$20 A). No metal lines are detected. We argue that Population III stars are the most plausible explanation for the observed He II emission, with no satisfactory alternative from other classes of sources or mechanisms.
fields
astro-ph.GA 3years
2026 3representative citing papers
Low-energy PISNe from 140 solar-mass Pop III stars produce second-generation stars at median [Fe/H] ~ -5.5 with odd-even patterns, but their absence from EMP observations disfavors PISNe as the main early enrichment channel.
citing papers explorer
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The Pristine HeII Emitter near GN-z11: Constraining the Mass Distribution of the First Stars
High-redshift HeII emitter observations confirm a >50% PopIII stellar mass fraction and favor top-heavy IMFs for the first stars with total masses 2e4 to 6e5 solar masses.
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Metal Enrichment by the First Stars Exploding at the Lower Energy Limit of Pair-Instability Supernovae
Low-energy PISNe from 140 solar-mass Pop III stars produce second-generation stars at median [Fe/H] ~ -5.5 with odd-even patterns, but their absence from EMP observations disfavors PISNe as the main early enrichment channel.
- What is Powering the Enigmatic He II Emitter Hebe: The First Stars or Black Holes?