Detecting a disk bending wave in a barred-spiral galaxy at redshift 4.4

Understand

The recent discovery of barred spiral galaxies in the early universe ($z>2$) poses questions of how these structures form and how they influence galaxy evolution in the early universe.

• In this study, we investigate the morphology and kinematics of the far infrared (FIR) continuum and [CII] emission in BRI1335-0417 at $z\approx 4.4$ from ALMA observations.
• The variations in position angle and ellipticity of the isophotes show the characteristic signature of a barred galaxy.
• The bar, $3.3^{+0.2}_{-0.2}$ kpc long in radius and bridging the previously identified two-armed spiral, is evident in both [CII] and FIR images, driving the galaxy's rapid evolution by channelling gas towards the nucleus.