Space
Faintest, Farthest Galaxy Discovery May Help In Reionization Epoch Study
Michael Finn
First Posted: May 23, 2016 04:10 AM EDT
The faintest galaxy has been in existence for the past 13 billion years, right before the universe was formed. This early galaxy, according to scientist, could help in the study of "reionization epoch" when the first stars became apparent.
Detection of the faintest galaxy was made through the use of a powerful at the W.M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii. Staff astronomer Marc Kassis said that the galaxy is very interesting in the sense that they have inferred a very low stellar mass of the Milky Way. Kassis further explained that the galaxy's great distance and small size provide answers in one of astronomy's basic questions, which is the cause behind hydrogen gas' to become ionized from being neutral 13 billion years ago. According to Kassis, it is the period when matter was more complex and the stars turned on.
Sightings of the faintest galaxy were caught through a cluster of bigger galaxies MACS2129.4-074 that played like a giant magnifying glass. This occurrence is referred to as the gravitational lensing predicted by Einstein wherein the faintest galaxy becomes magnified by another large object's gravity that lies between it and the observer. The large objects can bend the light coming from the source while it travels and becomes noticeable to the observer, Astronomy reported.
According to lead researcher Kuang-Han Huang of the University of California, Davis, if the galaxy's light failed to be magnified by the factors of five, two and 11, visibility would not have been possible. Huang added that it is located close to the reionization epoch's end, at which majority of hydrogen gas between the galaxies underwent a transition from being largely neutral to being largely ionized. This indicates the importance of gravitational lensing in understanding the population of faintest galaxy, which controls the reionization photon production.
Galaxies MACS2129.4-0741 in front of the faintest galaxy were massive enough to magnify the detected galaxy's light and to produce its different images. The magnified images seen by the Hubble Space Telescope and Keck Observatory prove that they were exactly similar and appear as a single object, according to Phys.Org.
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TagsFaintest galaxy, astronomy, Einstein, hydrogen gas, reionization epoch, Stars, Gravity, Gravitational Lensing, Universe, space ©2024 ScienceWorldReport.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The window to the world of science news.
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First Posted: May 23, 2016 04:10 AM EDT
The faintest galaxy has been in existence for the past 13 billion years, right before the universe was formed. This early galaxy, according to scientist, could help in the study of "reionization epoch" when the first stars became apparent.
Detection of the faintest galaxy was made through the use of a powerful at the W.M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii. Staff astronomer Marc Kassis said that the galaxy is very interesting in the sense that they have inferred a very low stellar mass of the Milky Way. Kassis further explained that the galaxy's great distance and small size provide answers in one of astronomy's basic questions, which is the cause behind hydrogen gas' to become ionized from being neutral 13 billion years ago. According to Kassis, it is the period when matter was more complex and the stars turned on.
Sightings of the faintest galaxy were caught through a cluster of bigger galaxies MACS2129.4-074 that played like a giant magnifying glass. This occurrence is referred to as the gravitational lensing predicted by Einstein wherein the faintest galaxy becomes magnified by another large object's gravity that lies between it and the observer. The large objects can bend the light coming from the source while it travels and becomes noticeable to the observer, Astronomy reported.
According to lead researcher Kuang-Han Huang of the University of California, Davis, if the galaxy's light failed to be magnified by the factors of five, two and 11, visibility would not have been possible. Huang added that it is located close to the reionization epoch's end, at which majority of hydrogen gas between the galaxies underwent a transition from being largely neutral to being largely ionized. This indicates the importance of gravitational lensing in understanding the population of faintest galaxy, which controls the reionization photon production.
Galaxies MACS2129.4-0741 in front of the faintest galaxy were massive enough to magnify the detected galaxy's light and to produce its different images. The magnified images seen by the Hubble Space Telescope and Keck Observatory prove that they were exactly similar and appear as a single object, according to Phys.Org.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone