Researchers found gases from 49 galaxies while at first studying a single galaxy. Using the MeerKAT telescope, they determined substantial galaxy groupings and characteristics, highlighting the instrument’s capacity for future huge research study.
A worldwide group of astronomers has actually determined 49 brand-new gas-rich galaxies with the assistance of the MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa.
Dr Marcin Glowacki, from the Curtin University node of the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) in Western Australia, led the research study, which intended to study the star-forming gas in a single radio galaxy. Although the group didn’t discover any star-forming gas in the galaxy they were studying, Dr Glowacki rather found other galaxies while checking the information.
In overall, the gas of 49 galaxies was spotted. Dr Glowacki stated this was a fantastic example of how wonderful an instrument like MeerKAT is for discovering the star-forming gas in galaxies.
A group of worldwide astronomers has actually found 49 brand-new galaxies utilizing the MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa, utilizing observations that were less than 3 hours long. Credit: < period class ="glossaryLink" aria-describedby ="tt" data-cmtooltip ="<div class=glossaryItemTitle>ICRAR</div><div class=glossaryItemBody>Founded in 2009, the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) is an equal joint venture between Curtin University and The University of Western Australia. The ICRAR attracts researchers in radio astronomy, contributing to Australian and international scientific and technical programs for the international Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project.</div>" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex ="0" function ="link" > ICRAR
The observations, which lasted less than 3 hours and were assisted in by IDIA(Inter-UniversityInstitute forDataIntensiveAstronomy), made this discovery possible.
“I did not expect to find almost fifty new galaxies in such a short time,” he stated.“By implementing different techniques for finding galaxies, which are used for other MeerKAT surveys, we were able to detect all of these galaxies and reveal their gas content.”
Four close-by galaxies as part of the set of49 discovered by MeerKAT, revealed by the white shapes.Three of the galaxies are linked together by their gas material.The biggest galaxy is taking gas from 2 surrounding galaxies.The background color image is from the DECaLS DR10 optical study.Credit: ICRAR
The“49ers”Galaxies
The brand-new galaxies have actually been informally nicknamed the49 ers, a recommendation to the1849California gold rush miners.DrGlowacki sees the49 brand-new galaxies as important as gold nuggets in our night sky. Many galaxies are near each other, forming galaxy groups, with a number of determined in one observation.
Three galaxies are straight linked by their gas.
Example of specific detections of the gas spotted by MeerKAT. Credit: ICRAR
Dr Glowacki stated, “These three are particularly interesting, as by studying the galaxies at other wavelengths of light, we discovered the central galaxy is forming many stars. It is likely stealing the gas from its companion galaxies to fuel its star formation, which may lead the other two to become inactive.”
Professor Ed Elson, from the University of the Western Cape and a co-author of the paper, stated, “This discovery highlights the raw power of the MeerKAT telescope as an imaging instrument. The methods we developed and implemented to study the 49ers will be useful for MeerKAT large science surveys and smaller observing campaigns such as ours.”
The 49 ers– the 49 brand-new gas-rich galaxies spotted by the MeerKAT radio telescope in SouthAfrica Each detection is revealed as colored shapes, with redder colors suggesting more far-off gas from us, and bluer colors as closer gas. The background image originates from the optical PanSTARRS study. Credit: ICRAR
Dr Glowacki has actually just recently found more gas-rich galaxies with the assistance of Jasmine White, an ICRAR summertime trainee, who dealt with him and examined brief observations made by MeerKAT.
“We hope to continue our studies and share even more discoveries of new gas-rich galaxies with the wider community soon,” Dr Glowacki stated.
Reference: “A serendipitous discovery of H i-rich galaxy groups with MeerKAT” by M Glowacki, L Albrow, T Reynolds, E Elson, E K Mahony and J R Allison, 26 March 2024, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
DOI: 10.1093/ mnras/stae684
