Early high-gloss galaxies may be less frequent than expected: study

The researchers said that this discovery – that the galaxy candidate known the most brilliant in the primitive universe is essentially a fraud – has to deep implications on galaxy formation patterns. was in its infancy. [Image Source: R Livermore (University of Melbourne), M Trenti (University of Melbourne), and the BoRG team]

The ultra-bright galaxies of the early universe are perhaps less common than previously thought, revealed a study done using the Hubble Space Telescope. Researchers led by the University of Melbourne in Australia have used Hubble to observe two galaxies considered so far away that we see them over 13 billion years in the time when the universe was young.

Posted in Astrophysical Journal Letters, the study found that a galaxy was a light source seen over 13 billion years ago, as expected. However, the other was an "impostor" – a relatively close galaxy confused with a very distant one because of its red color. The effect known as redshift gives distant galaxies distinct colors that can indicate how far away they are. However, some relatively close galaxies have falsely similar colors, which gives some uncertainty to their estimated distance.

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The researchers say this discovery – that the most brilliant known galaxy candidate in the primitive universe is essentially a fraud – has to deep implications for models of galaxy formation when the universe was in its infancy. Associate Professor Michele Trenti of the University of Melbourne said that while another camera was being used, the team used the highly sensitive Wide Field Camera 3 camera to observe a random sky zone for a few hours. He said that repeating this more than 100 times accumulated a rich set of data covering unrelated parts of the universe, thus maximizing the chances of landing on a rare and brilliant young galaxy

"Since the Hubble's primary time is so rare and oversubscribed, an ideal opportunity to carry out advanced science at no extra cost, "said Trenti. "He's doubling the productivity of an already incredible telescope," he says.

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