Swinburne University | University of Arizona | 2019 Oct 22
Astronomers have accidentally discovered the footprints of a monster galaxy in the early Universe that has never been seen before.
Like a cosmic Yeti, these galaxies have been regarded by the scientific community as folklore, given the lack of evidence of their existence. Now, for the first time astronomers in the US and Australia have managed to snap a picture of the beast. The discovery provides new insights into the first growing steps of some of the biggest galaxies in the Universe.
Using the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA), a collection of 66 radio telescopes high in the Chilean mountains, Dr Christina Williams, lead author of the study, noticed a faint light blob in new sensitive observations. Strangely enough, the shimmering seemed to be coming out of nowhere, like a ghostly footstep in a vast dark wilderness. ...
The researchers estimate that the signal came from so far away that it took 12.5 billion years to reach Earth, therefore giving us a view of the Universe in its infancy. They think the observed emission is caused by the warm glow of dust particles heated by stars forming deep inside a young galaxy. The giant clouds of dust conceal the light of the stars themselves, rendering the galaxy completely invisible. ...
Astronomers Discover ‘Monster’ Galaxy Lurking in Distant Dust Clouds
University of Massachusetts, Amherst | 2019 Oct 22
Discovery of a Dark, Massive, ALMA-only Galaxy at z ~ 5–6 in a Tiny 3 mm Survey ~ Christina C. Williams et al
- Astrophysical Journal 884(2):154 (2019 Oct 20) DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/ab44aa
- arXiv.org > astro-ph > arXiv:1905.11996 > 28 May 2019 (v1), 23 Sep 2019 (v2)