Astronomers Find The Largest Galaxy Beating The Size Of The Milky Way, What Is It?

Jakarta – The latest discoveries in the solar system re-discovered by astronomers. This time astronomers managed to uncover galaxy with the largest size so far ever found.

This galaxy is called the Alcyoneus galaxy. It is 16.3 million light years wide and 160 times wider in diameter than the Milky Way.

In fact, this galaxy is four times the size of the previous largest galaxy, IC 1101, which spans 3.9 million light years.

Facts about the Alcyoneus Galaxy which is bigger than the Milky Way

1. Derived from Greek

Citing Livescience, the name of the galaxy Alcyoneus comes from one of the mythical giants who fought Hercules. The giant has a name meaning “mighty ass” in Greek, Alcyoneus, about 3 billion light years from Earth.

This galaxy is an example of a very large radio galaxy, or a galaxy with a supermassive black hole where the center devours large amounts of matter before spewing it out.

After traveling millions of light years, the plasma emission slows down, dispersed into clumps that emit light in the form of radio waves. In Alcyoneus’s case, his lobes were the largest ever found.

2. Keep the mystery

Galaxy having giant radio lobes filled with plasma is nothing new (even the Milky Way has two tiny blobs). But in Alcyoneus, which is classified as a galaxy with a relatively ordinary center, it is able to grow very large clumps. This is a mystery to scientists.

Martijn Oei, an astronomer at the Leiden Observatory in the Netherlands, said after processing the data to detect only the large, diffused radio lobe, he spotted the enormous structure by accident.

“Besides the giant clump, Alcyoneus is a normal elliptical galaxy, with a total mass of about 240 billion solar masses (half that of the Milky Way) and a central supermassive black hole 400 million solar masses (100 solar masses) less massive than the largest black holes.” he said.

For now, astronomers are confused, but they are investigating several potential explanations. One possibility is that the galaxy’s surroundings have a lower density than usual. That allowed the jet to expand across an unprecedented scale.

In addition, the researchers also said they would find out what caused Alcyoneus to grow in size to find out how other galaxies also grew.

“If there is a characteristic of the parent galaxy that is an important cause for growth galaxy radio giant, then the parent of the largest radio giant galaxy will most likely have it,” said the astronomer.

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