Secrets of distant dwarf galaxy formation revealed courtesy ISRO AstroSat; win for Indian studies
Indian researchers have just made an amazing revelation about distant dwarf galaxy formation. Know what the research says.
For a long time, scientists have been exploring how galaxies, the building blocks of our Universe, emerged and evolved into the galaxies they are today. Now, a study by University of Tezpur researchers along with an international team of astronomers from the US and France has taken an important step in tracing the mysteries of galaxy formation. India’s first dedicated multi-wavelength space observatory, the UltraViolet Imaging Telescope (UVIT) aboard ISRO’s AstroSat detected faint emission of Far UltraViolet light on the outskirts of a distant blue Compact Dwarf galaxy pattern. This distance is about 1.5-3.9 billion light years from Earth.
This is the first study of its kind to track how young stars found in star-forming clusters slowly resettle towards the inner regions to form the celestial portion of these galaxies. Anshuman Borgohain, lead author of the study published in the journal Nature, mentioned that “the appearance of such young stars at the periphery of galaxies is often an indication of a nearby gas accumulation. here from their surroundings to promote star formation and subsequent galaxy growth.” He has worked under Dr. Rupjyoti Gogoi, Assistant Professor of Physics at the University of Tezpur, and Professor Kanak Saha, Professor of Astronomy at IUCAA.
However, the principal research officer of the US IBM research division, Bruce Elmegreen, who was involved in the study, expressed his concern that the fact that some small galaxies could form stars act as active stars. So it’s always a mystery. He added that these findings suggest that gas accumulating in the far outer parts may be forced to move inward through torques caused by gas giants and stellar complexes. And that’s how the movement of gas creates the central density throughout the lifetime of the galaxy.
Dr Rupjyoti Gogoi, Assistant Professor of Physics at the University of Tezpur said, “AstroSat can be an inspiration for the country’s young researchers.” AstroSat’s imaging capabilities have extended further avenues in the field of extragalactic astronomy.
