Published 20:06 IST, August 14th 2020
'Surprisingly unchaotic' galaxy spotted 12 billion light years away
A golden halo glinting 12 billion light-years has been spotted by scientists in Europe. Named SPT0418-47, it is the farthest galaxy resembling our milky way.
- Science News
- 2 min read
A golden halo glinting 12 billion light-years has been spotted by scientists in Europe. Named SPT0418-47, it is the farthest galaxy resembling our milky way to be spotted. Astronomers, who discovered the ‘baby’ galaxy also said that the “surprisingly unchaotic" infant star system challenges their understanding of the early years of the Universe.
Astronomers from European Southern Observatory (ESO), who discovered the galaxy, said that it was s so far that light took four billion years to reach Earth, so the image we have is from the past. They added that the images ‘Baby’ was formed 1.4 billion years ago, the time when other galaxies were also in their initial stage. According to ESO, the galaxy was found powerful Alma radio telescope in Chile using a technique called gravitational lensing, where a nearby galaxy acts as a powerful magnifying glass.
The new planet system has similar features to our galaxy - a rotating disk, a bulge which is the high density of stars packed tightly around the galactic centre. "This is the first time a bulge has been seen this early in the history of the Universe, making SPT0418-47 the most distant Milky Way look-alike," the ESO said.
'Surprisingly unchaotic'
Although the experts speculated it to be chaotic, the ew discovered galaxy turned out to be “Surprisingly unchaotic”. Thereby, contradicting theories that all galaxies in the early Universe were turbulent and unstable. The researchers have said that unexpected discovery suggests that the early universe may not be as chaotic as believed.
"Despite forming stars at a high rate, and therefore being the site of highly energetic processes, SPT0418-47 is the most well-ordered galaxy disc ever observed in the early Universe," said Vegetti, who co-authored the research published in Nature.
Updated 20:05 IST, August 14th 2020