Newborn galaxies! And nearby!

2004/12/23 Carton Virto, Eider - Elhuyar Zientzia

• Astrofisika

NASA's GALEX (The Galaxy Evolution Explorer) satellite has detected newborn galaxies, not far from us. Of two there are only four billion light years, and that's close when we talk about newborn galaxies. According to researchers involved in the study, the detection of galaxies so young at this distance is like finding a live fossil at the door of the house

A newborn galaxy would be the one seen on the right in the image (the one on the left, the old one). Views over ultraviolet light, the spectrum in which more radiation is emitted by young stars, these galaxies are much brighter, 10 times more than the Milky Way. This glow indicates the presence of zones in formation of stars and supernovae in explosion, which denotes his youth

The discovery, thanks to its proximity, will allow researchers to study more precisely precursors of galaxies like ours and to review their beliefs. In fact, it was thought that most galaxies were born in the youth of the universe. According to this theory, births reached their peak between 5 and 10 billion years ago, and from then on the birth rate decreased significantly. That is why they should observe very distant areas to investigate newborn galaxies.

Photo: NASA/JPL-CALTECH