The universe is full of amazing sights and strange phenomena, which researchers try to study and explain every day. This time the discovery comes from a team of Australian astronomers.
The new pictures are Galvanizing astronomers These days, they come from a team of scientists Australianspart of the project Wallabieswith a purpose Sky map of the entire southern hemisphere.
Galaxy NGC 4632 as you’ve never seen it before
there Galaxy NGC 4632 It is well located 56 million light years From the distance from EarthThat is, we will make good use of it 56 million years if we traveled at the speed of light To reach it. to’Hydrogen gas ring What surrounded it was vertical to flee The first, in the eyes of researchers, because Invisible to ordinary telescopes Visual, but was finally recognized through the use ofThe latest ASKAP radio telescope From an Australian government agency CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization).
The picture you see is the result Total of two photoscaptured by ASKAP radio data In an area Wagari Yamaji (Western Australia) And come on Optical data From the telescope Subaru in Hawaii.
“The data suggests so Between one and Three percent From nearby galaxies They can have gaseous polar rings, “A much higher amount than optical telescope data indicate”, “Galaxies with polar rings”. They may be more common than we previously thought”
These are words Nathan Dig, Astronomer at Queen’s University In Canada and Lead author of the study.
How is the polar ring formed?
the Polar rings I am Gas rings and perhaps stars Which revolves around 90 degree angle around the galaxyIt can be formed in different ways: The first theory It is that they form when A galaxy passes by the second; this “He steals“ material From the first, and Gravity force “grinding” Together gas, dust and stellar matter give it Matte appearance Characteristic. Another theory instead claims so Gases move in the galaxy Through one A network of so-called “cosmic threads” Which unites different galaxies together; Traveling like this is possible Some of the gas is attracted and captured by nearby galaxies.
research Wallabies (Clear Widefield ASKAP L-band Legacy All-sky Blind) has a purpose Study of gas distribution In the skies of the Southern Hemisphere, I have been able to find it so far Two galaxies With polar ring: NGC 4632 and NGC 6156.
“Use ASKAP in the coming years We expect to detect more than 200 thousand galaxies rich in hydrogen, Including some More strange Such polar ring galaxies”
Barbil Korybalski, CSIRO astronomer
despite of data they suggest Of the galaxies identified by WALLABY research They are polar ring galaxies, They don’t prove it conclusivelyThe researchers were also keen to identify it; As research continues, more data will be collected from more galaxies, To clarify the frequency of the polar ringsWhich could also shed light on the distribution of dark matter in galaxies.
ASKAP is Introduction to a transcontinental project Named Square Kilometer Array (SKA) With the aim of studying the so-called Reionization eraor the moment in which Cosmic gases have diminished And it was possible Observing the first celestial bodies. Construction of this new network is already underway Started in December 2022But it is expected to come It will not be completed before 2028.
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