2024-01-23 18:02:26
The peculiar J0613+52 galaxy. The colors in the picture indicate the direction of gas movement within the galaxy. Red indicates that this part of the gas is moving away from the Earth; blue indicates that this part of the gas is heading towards the Earth. (NSF/GBO/P. Vosteen)
Text/Chen Juncun
American astronomers recently accidentally discovered a rather strange, dark primitive galaxy. It seemed to be just a ball of gas and no stars, but it had the characteristics of a galaxy. This may be the first time astronomers have observed a galaxy composed of primordial gas.
American astronomers used the National Science Foundation’s Green Bank Telescope and the French Nançay Radio Telescope to accidentally discover the object numbered J0613+52, which is 270 million years away from the Earth. light-years of galaxies.
Astronomers originally used major telescopes distributed around the world to observe 350 low-surface-brightness galaxies in an attempt to understand the mass and hydrogen distribution of these extremely low-density galaxies.
The sparse nature of low-surface-brightness galaxies often challenges established theories of star and galaxy formation. Knowing more about the properties of these galaxies could help shed light on the formation of all stars and galaxies, including the Milky Way.
Karen O’Neil, senior scientist at the Green Bank Telescope, discovered an error during the observation process. This error caused the telescope to be pointed at incorrect coordinates, leading to the unexpected discovery of J0613+52.
“This is a galaxy made only of gas, with no visible stars. There may be stars there, but we just can’t see them,” O’Neill said.
Scientists have never observed a galaxy with such low surface brightness as J0613+52. “We know it’s a gas-rich galaxy,” O’Neill said. “It’s not forming stars in the way we expected, probably because its gas is too sparse. It’s also too far away from other galaxies to be Any collision helps it give birth to stars.”
O’Neill noted that the gas inside J0613+52 looks undisturbed and “stunted.” This galaxy may be the first time scientists have observed a galaxy composed of primordial gas. Its low-density gas makes it difficult, if not impossible, to observe at other wavelengths.
She added that only by using a very sensitive instrument like the Green Bank Telescope to survey the entire sky would it be possible to discover more galaxies like J0613+52.
The research results were published at the 243rd meeting of the American Astronomical Society. ◇
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