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A color composite image of one of the deepest near-infrared views of the universe. The image shows newly discovered red galaxies, seen when the universe was only a fraction of its current age. These galaxies are generally much more massive and evolved than early galaxies found previously with the Hubble space telescope at visible wavelengths. (Labbé/ESO)

In his thesis, “Deep Infrared Studies of Massive High-Redshift Galaxies,” written between 2000 and 2004 at the Leiden Observatory, Labbé found surprisingly massive and mature galaxies that had formed only 2-3 billion years after the Big Bang. A central question in cosmology is how such galaxies arose and how they formed.

“We know a quite a bit about the beginning, shortly after the Big Bang, and we know the final outcome,” said Labbé. “With the help of advanced infrared telescopes such as the NASA Spitzer Space Telescope and the ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile and modern infrared cameras, we are slowly getting a more complete picture of the intervening period.”

During his research, Labbé helped probe the post-Big Bang period by producing some of the most sensitive infrared images ever made of the early universe. These data uncovered substantial numbers of luminous red galaxies that had been overlooked in deep visible imaging from the Hubble Space Telescope. The newly discovered galaxies were more massive and older than previously known systems, challenging the assumption that only young small galaxies could exist so soon in the universe’s history.

While at Carnegie Labbé discovered that many of the red systems had almost stopped forming new stars, a process previously believed to happen much later in the evolution of galaxies. The questions now are how such objects formed so quickly and why they shut down star formation.

The Van Marum Prize was established in 2007 by the JC Ruigrok Foundation as an incentive for young Dutch scientists in recognition of outstanding scientific research. The award is administered by the Royal Dutch Society of Sciences, a private organization founded in 1752 and the oldest scientific society in the Netherlands. The prize is awarded in 2008 for the first time and is given once every 5 years to a researcher in fields of Physics, Astronomy, Mathematics, or Information Technology.