First Galactic Film

2002/03/27 Carton Virto, Eider - Elhuyar Zientzia

• Astronomia

Astronomers have first rolled the stars, dust, and gas from the center of a galaxy. The film is the most brilliant disc and central part of the galaxy in the form of a plate NGC 1068 and has served to see what the distribution of the matter is and how it moves throughout the galaxy. Specifically, we have studied the region that is reduced against the disk of galaxy matter, expelled from around the black hole that is supposedly located in the center of the galaxy.

Knowing how and at what speed matter moves in the heart of galaxies is fundamental to understanding its functioning. It serves to know the mass of the galaxy and the energy that escapes through the center. Recently, the Hubble Telescope studied the galaxy itself, but Hubble can study the movement of matter in a very small part of the galaxy. Astronomers at the University of Durham have joined the Hawaii GMOS telescope to the instrument called IFU, a device that functions as the eyes of insects to make the film. The technique is similar to that used by Hubble, that is, it measures the brightness and wavelength of the cuts of the galaxy to know if the objects are moving away or approaching, but it can receive more light, so it allows to study the entire galaxy.

The galaxy NGC 1068 is located in the constellation of Cetus at 70 million light-years from us.