The space between the galaxies was not transparent; rather it was an opaque i.e., there was a dense fog. But how that fog was cleared is still a major question in the minds of astronomers. New observational evidence from the University Of Michigan shows how high energy light radiation could be responsible for its clearance.
Astronomers believed that the early star forming galaxies were good enough to produce high energy light radiations which could have evaporated the fog, or turn the hydrogen intergalactic medium to active hydrogen plasma that is present today. But they couldn’t find out where the emitted high energy light radiations escape through the galaxy.
NGC 5253;The star burst and dwarf planet
Sally Oey, an astronomy professor at the University Of Michigan and Jordan Zastrow, a doctoral astronomy student, observed the nearby dwarf starburst galaxy; NGC 5253 in the southern constellation Centaurus starburst galaxies, which, as their name indicates, are undergoing a period of immense star formation.
The astronomers used special filters to see where and how the galaxy’s ultraviolet radiation interact with their nearby gases. They found that the UV light is indeed evaporating the gas in the interstellar medium. And it is doing so along a narrow cone emanating from the galaxy.
A massive superwind from these massive stars of the starburst galaxies can clear a passway through the gas of the galaxy. The shape of the cone they observed could explain the reason why it was difficult to detect similar processes in other galaxies.
These findings could help astronomers know the early galaxies affected the universe and how the radiations escaped through the galaxies.
These findings could help astronomers know the early galaxies affected the universe and how the radiations escaped through the galaxies.
Contributing scientists to this project were from the University Of Maryland, MIT’s Kalvi university of California, Berkeley .This project was funded by National Science Foundation and the research was conducted with the Magellan Telescopes at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile.
No comments:
Post a Comment