Astronomers discovered a galaxy 9.8 billion light years away that creates an astounding 800 stars a year. To put this in perspective, the Milky Way produces two stars per year at most.
“It is very exciting to have discovered such an interesting object,” said Gillian Wilson, a professor of physics and astronomy at the University of California, Riverside and a member of the research team. “Understanding its nature proved to be a real scientific challenge which required the combined efforts of an international team of astronomers and many of the world’s best telescopes to solve.”
In a Galaxy Far, Far Away
Galaxies exist within galaxy clusters, rare regions of the universe that also contain trillions of starts, hot gas, and dark matter. Located at the cluster’s center are Brightest Cluster Galaxies (BCGs), which are the largest in the universe. …show more content…
M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii. The Spitzer and Herschel Space Telescope detect infrared light, observing that the cluster is 9.8 billion light years away, contains 27 galaxies, and has a total mass equal to 400 trillion Suns.
Follow up observations using the Hubble Telescope revealed where the star formation was coming. It showed ‘beads of string’ at the center SpARCS1049. This is an indication of a ‘wet merger,’ which occurs when at least one galaxy in a collision between galaxies is gas rich. The gas is then converted into stars.
Researchers believe that the large amount of star formation and the ‘beads of string’ at the center of SpARCS1049+56 are the result of the processes of a BCG consuming a gas-rich spiral galaxy.
Shedding New Light on Star Formation
“What is particularly interesting is that BCGs in clusters of galaxies closer to the Milky Way are thought to grow by so-called ‘dry mergers,’ collisions between gas-poor galaxies which do not result in the formation of new stars,” Wilson
“It is very exciting to have discovered such an interesting object,” said Gillian Wilson, a professor of physics and astronomy at the University of California, Riverside and a member of the research team. “Understanding its nature proved to be a real scientific challenge which required the combined efforts of an international team of astronomers and many of the world’s best telescopes to solve.”
In a Galaxy Far, Far Away
Galaxies exist within galaxy clusters, rare regions of the universe that also contain trillions of starts, hot gas, and dark matter. Located at the cluster’s center are Brightest Cluster Galaxies (BCGs), which are the largest in the universe. …show more content…
M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii. The Spitzer and Herschel Space Telescope detect infrared light, observing that the cluster is 9.8 billion light years away, contains 27 galaxies, and has a total mass equal to 400 trillion Suns.
Follow up observations using the Hubble Telescope revealed where the star formation was coming. It showed ‘beads of string’ at the center SpARCS1049. This is an indication of a ‘wet merger,’ which occurs when at least one galaxy in a collision between galaxies is gas rich. The gas is then converted into stars.
Researchers believe that the large amount of star formation and the ‘beads of string’ at the center of SpARCS1049+56 are the result of the processes of a BCG consuming a gas-rich spiral galaxy.
Shedding New Light on Star Formation
“What is particularly interesting is that BCGs in clusters of galaxies closer to the Milky Way are thought to grow by so-called ‘dry mergers,’ collisions between gas-poor galaxies which do not result in the formation of new stars,” Wilson