SPACE — Astronomers accidentally discovered a dark galaxy consisting of untouched primordial gas. This galaxy appears to have no visible stars.
Primordial gas is a gas made mostly of hydrogen and helium which was created shortly after the Big Bang. This gas had not been enriched when the star exploded and sprinkled it with heavy elements or “metals.”
Primordial gas findings usually occur during the early formation of the universe or perhaps billions of light years from Earth.
Researchers say that the galaxy, called J0613+52, could be “the faintest galaxy discovered to date.” Interestingly, scientists discovered this dark galaxy using the Green Bank Telescope (GBT) by accident.
“GBT was accidentally aimed at the wrong coordinates and discovered this object. This is a galaxy made only of gas with no visible stars,” said Karen O’Neil, senior scientist at the Green Bank Observatory, in a statement, reported by Space.
“The stars might be there. We just can’t see them.”
This galaxy is full of primordial gas, but its location is very close to Earth. The dark galaxy J0613+52 is only about 270 million light years from Earth.
Low Luminosity Galaxies
J0613+52 was discovered by astronomers when they surveyed hydrogen gas in several Low Surface Brightness (LSB) galaxies. Scientists use several large radio telescopes around the world, including the GBT located in Green Bank, West Virginia, and the Nançay Radio Telescope at the Paris Observatory.
LSBs tend to have small stellar populations spread throughout the galaxy. These galaxies generally emit much less light per unit area than galaxies such as the Milky Way or Andromeda. LSBs are usually very difficult to find.
For example, the first LSB discovered was Malin 1, discovered in the 1980s, which is still one of the largest spiral galaxies ever seen at five times the width of the Milky Way. Despite being so big, Malin 1 is only 1 percent as bright as our galaxy.
The LSB also appears to be growing much more slowly than other galaxies. In general, many LSBs are still experiencing the early stages of star formation. Astronomers believe this is due to the low density of their gas, meaning clumps of gas that are too dense cannot gather to eventually give birth to stars.
Unique Dark Galaxy
J0613+52 is an LSB like the other 350 galaxies discovered in the survey. However, this galaxy is unique.
This galaxy is very rich in gas. “This doesn’t show star formation as we expected, perhaps because the gas is too spread out,” O’Neil said.
“At the same time, this galaxy is too far from other galaxies to help trigger star formation through any encounters.”
2024-01-13 07:10:00
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