The most accurate body chart of a giant galaxy located 12,4 billion light-years away. By using the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA), the team found out that the molecular clouds in the galaxy are in fact highly unstable, leading to the formation of runaway stars. Monster galaxies are theorized to be the precursors of the elliptical galaxies that can be encountered in our present-day universe. The results will contribute to a better understanding of how the universe came into existence.
The lead author of the paper, Ken-ichi Tadaki , Ph.D. researcher at the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, has declared that ALMA has offered them the opportunity to observe the distant galaxy with high-quality resolution.
The monster galaxy has been named COSMOS-AzTEC-1. Located at the mind-bending distance of 12, 4 billion light-years, it form stars at a speed 1000 greater than our Milky Way Galaxy. ALMA observations showed dense gas concentrations in disk, and a massive star formation phenomenon.
A question inevitably arises. Why do monster galaxies form stars at such speeds? In order to find an answer, researchers had to observe the environment around the zones were the stars come to ‘’life’’.
This is why the astronomers focused on the galaxy COSMOS-AzTEC-1. First discovered by the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope in Hawaii and the Large Millimeter Telescope in Mexico, enormous amounts of carbon monoxide have been observed in the galaxy along with its secret starburst. It was the LT that allowed the measure of the distance to the galaxy
While the galaxy is a variety of ingredients that constitute stars, but the nature of the gas remained elusive. Using ALMA, the researchers managed to compile a high resolution and detail map of the gas distribution in the galaxy. It is the highest resolution molecular gas map of a distant monster galaxy ever made.
An interesting detail was the fact that the clouds in the galaxy are very. Whereas in most galaxies gases are regulated by the pressure emitted when a star forms and after it becomes a supernova, in this galaxy the pressure is reduced, which explains the accelerated rhythm.
Further research is being done in order to explain the particularities of the galaxy.
Laura grew up in a small town in northern Quebec. She studied chemistry in college, graduated, and married her husband one month later. They were then blessed with two baby boys within the first four years of marriage. Having babies gave their family a desire to return to the old paths – to nourish their family with traditional, homegrown foods; rid their home of toxic chemicals and petroleum products; and give their boys a chance to know a simple, sustainable way of life. They are currently building a homestead from scratch on two little acres in central Texas. There’s a lot to be done to become somewhat self-sufficient, but they are debt-free and get to spend their days living this simple, good life together with their five young children. Laura is an advocate for people with disabilities.