Enormous ‘shipyard’ of ancient galaxies discovered 11 billion light-years away
[ad_1]
Astronomers have discovered a massive “shipyard” where galaxies are built, similar to the one our Milky Way grew up in.
The giant structure, called a protocluster, contains more than 60 galaxies and is 11 billion light-years from Earth, so far away that scientists are observing a part of the universe that is only 3 billion years old.
Researchers released a paper on the protocluster named G237 in January, but its existence has now been confirmed by an international team of astronomers, who published their follow-up findings on Oct. 26 in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.
“You can think of galaxy protoclusters such as G237 as a galaxy shipyard in which massive galaxies are being assembled, only this structure existed at a time when the universe was 3 billion years old,” study co-author Brenda Frye, an associate professor of astronomy at the University of Arizona, said in a statement.
Related: Cosmic record holders: The 12 biggest objects in the universe
Gravity pulls stars and other matter together to form galaxies, which then have a tendency to group together to form clusters. Scientists know little about protoclusters, partly because these conglomerations are too faint to be detected with optical light, according to Frye.
Researchers first observed G237 in the far-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum using the European Space Agency’s Planck telescope.
Scientists have now confirmed its existence through follow-up observations, using the Large Binocular Telescope in Arizona and the Subaru Telescope in Japan, as well as archival data, the Herschel Space Observatory and the Spitzer Space Telescope.
The early observations of G237 implied it was creating stars at an unrealistically high and unsustainable rate. “Each of the 63 galaxies discovered so far in G237 was like a star factory in overdrive,” Frye said. It’s as if the galaxies were working on overtime to assemble stars.”
Hydrogen acts as fuel for forming stars, and the astronomers were initially puzzled because the protocluster didn’t appear to get enough hydrogen to fuel its furious rate of star formation.
The researchers discovered some of the star production observations came from galaxies unrelated to G237. The star production for the protocluster remained high after the team removed these unrelated observations, but they believe protoclusters like G237 can draw sufficient hydrogen from filaments, or threads of gas, that link galaxies to create what is called the cosmic web, with protoclusters forming where the filaments intersect. That would mean that protoclusters like G237 have plenty of hydrogen to birth new stars at a dizzying rate.
“The picture we have pieced together now is that of a successful galaxy shipyard, which is working at high efficiency to assemble galaxies and the stars within them and has an energy supply that is more sustainable,” Frye said.
Originally published on Live Science.
[ad_2]
Original Post
What¦s Going down i’m new to this, I stumbled upon this I have discovered It absolutely helpful and it has helped me out loads. I’m hoping to contribute & help different customers like its helped me. Good job.
I gotta favorite this web site it seems extremely helpful handy
Hmm it appears like your site ate my first comment (it was super long) so I guess I’ll just sum it up what I submitted and say, I’m thoroughly enjoying your blog. I too am an aspiring blog writer but I’m still new to the whole thing. Do you have any tips for first-time blog writers? I’d genuinely appreciate it.
Very good written information. It will be beneficial to anyone who employess it, including yours truly :). Keep doing what you are doing – looking forward to more posts.
Hiya, I am really glad I’ve found this information. Today bloggers publish only about gossips and internet and this is really annoying. A good website with interesting content, that is what I need. Thanks for keeping this web site, I will be visiting it. Do you do newsletters? Can not find it.
Hey! Someone in my Myspace group shared this website with us so I came to take a look. I’m definitely enjoying the information. I’m bookmarking and will be tweeting this to my followers! Outstanding blog and outstanding design and style.
I’d have to examine with you here. Which is not one thing I usually do! I take pleasure in reading a post that may make folks think. Additionally, thanks for permitting me to comment!
I really appreciate this post. I have been looking everywhere for this! Thank goodness I found it on Bing. You have made my day! Thx again!
Do you mind if I quote a couple of your posts as long as I provide credit and sources back to your webpage? My blog is in the very same area of interest as yours and my visitors would truly benefit from a lot of the information you present here. Please let me know if this alright with you. Many thanks!
Great info and straight to the point. I don’t know if this is really the best place to ask but do you folks have any thoughts on where to employ some professional writers? Thanks 🙂
Greetings from Idaho! I’m bored to death at work so I decided to check out your site on my iphone during lunch break. I love the information you provide here and can’t wait to take a look when I get home. I’m amazed at how quick your blog loaded on my phone .. I’m not even using WIFI, just 3G .. Anyways, fantastic site!
Do you have a spam problem on this blog; I also am a blogger, and I was curious about your situation; we have developed some nice methods and we are looking to trade methods with others, why not shoot me an email if interested.
I cherished as much as you will receive carried out proper here. The caricature is attractive, your authored subject matter stylish. nevertheless, you command get bought an nervousness over that you wish be delivering the following. sick unquestionably come further formerly once more since precisely the similar nearly very regularly inside case you protect this hike.
You actually make it appear really easy with your presentation but I to find this matter to be actually one thing that I believe I would never understand. It sort of feels too complex and extremely large for me. I’m looking forward in your next post, I will attempt to get the hang of it!