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Galaxies are being killed in some of the most extreme regions of the universe and scientists are trying to understand how this is going.
The cause of death is thought to be the cessation of star formation and a new project aims to use one of the world's best telescopes to observe the process in detail.
The project led by Canada entitled Investigation of the environment detected in Virgo Carbon Monoxide (VERTICO).
He will study how galaxies can be killed by their own environment.
Lead investigator, Toby Brown, explained in The Conversation that he was leading a team of 30 experts who will use the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) telescope to map the stars created in our closest galaxy group. , the Virgo group.
The Cluster of Virgo contains up to 2,000 galaxies.
The team will map molecular hydrogen gas in galaxies because it is the fuel used to make stars.
ALMA is currently composed of 66 radio telescopes located in the Chilean desert. It would be ideal for studying dense gas clouds forming new stars.
The environments of galaxies and the way they dictate the life and death of galaxies are shrouded in mystery.
However, scientists know that clusters of galaxies such as the Virgo cluster are one of the most extreme environments in the universe.
They are known for their enormous gravitational forces, their very high speeds and their extreme temperatures.
This can make the center of some galaxies inhospitable and kill other galaxies that come into contact with these areas.
The VERTICO project aims to observe how this happens.
A violent process called dynamic pressure depressurization can eliminate gases from a galaxy that falls through clusters.
When all the gas needed for star formation is eliminated, a galaxy is essentially a dead object.
Certain clusters of galaxy clusters can also prevent the cooling of gases in a galaxy and deprive it of any new formation of stars.
Scientists involved in the project want to gather facts already known as this one to get a clearer picture of the impact of clusters of galaxies and the exact processes that result in the death of star formation and their disappearance.
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