A team of astronomers from the National University of San Juan (Argentina), the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil) and the Andrés Bello University (Chile) he has declared on the discovery of a large extragalactic cluster behind one of the sections of the Milky Way.
Image source: arxiv.org
Scientists have long known that an area that occupies about 10% of the sky is hidden from view behind the stars in the galactic plane of the Milky Way: it is called the “Avoidance Zone” and is still poorly understood. South American scientists have tried to explore this area further, gathering all the data obtained by their colleagues in recent years, and have also added information obtained as part of the VVV Survey project.
The VVV survey is sponsored by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) and combines data from numerous research centers in different locations: observations are made using instruments that work with infrared rather than visible radiation. Radiation in this range passes through gas, dust and starlight on the galactic plane, safely reaching instruments installed on Earth.
By studying the infrared images, the researchers discovered several galaxies located far beyond the Milky Way. Scientists estimate that there could be up to 58 galaxies in this huge cluster, and due to such a large number, astronomers have decided that together they form a huge extragalactic structure.
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