Astronomers spot the galactic wind of the early universe | Smart News

The researchers detected a cosmic wind in a galaxy 12 billion light-years away, the first time the phenomenon was observed at such a distance and so long ago in the past of the universe . But a galactic wind is not like the sea breeze on Earth. It is thought to be a regulatory mechanism that helps determine how quickly a galaxy creates stars, reports Rafi Letzter at LiveScience. This last look at a galactic wind of the early universe can help astrophysicists understand why galaxies evolve as they do.

In general, there are several routes that galaxies can descend when they form. In a scenario, they live fast and die young. For reasons that are not well understood, some galaxies begin to produce massive stars using gravity and available gases, producing stars 1000 times faster than other galaxies, which has earned them the name "Star galaxies". The massive stars they produce do not last long and eventually explode into supernovae powerful enough to overcome the force of gravity and project gases and other materials into space. Over time, this loss of material leads to the end of the galaxy. Such a fast-burning galaxy has just been revealed last week, a monster starburst galaxy called COSMOS-AzTEC-1 that will probably get burned after only 100 million years.

But not all star-shaped galaxies fall into a burst of glory. Instead, it is thought that some slow down their rate of star formation by ejecting some of their molecular gases into a halo around the galaxy. via the galactic wind. according to A press release, this stellar fuel drifts into space or later into the galaxy, triggering more and more star formations. Essentially, the wind slows the fast pace of star formation, creating a self-regulating mechanism that keeps the galaxy from running out so quickly.

This galactic wind is what astronomers have observed in the new study published in the journal Science. Using the Chile-based ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter / submillimeter Array) matrix, researchers detected the release of gas from a galaxy called SPT2319-55, which produced stars when the universe had only 1 billion years.

While astronomers have seen similar winds in other galaxies, this is by far the oldest case of recorded cosmic wind, which will help researchers understand the earliest eons of galaxy formation.

"Galaxies are complicated and disordered beasts, and we believe that exits and winds are critical elements of their formation and evolution, regulating their ability to grow," says astronomer Justin Spilker of the United States. University of Texas at Austin. declaration.

Finding the wind was not a trivial matter. The signals of these galaxies in the distant past are weak and often obscured by other information falling from the sky.

To amplify the signal, astronomers have used a technique called gravitational lens. In this technique, astronomers search for a massive celestial body – like a large galaxy or a black hole – between the telescope and the object they hope to see for a better view of a super-distance object. object of distance. If in the right position, the gravity of the massive foreground object deforms the light around it, amplifying the light behind it and creating multiple images of the target object.

In this case, astronomers used a large galaxy in the line of sight of SPT2319-55, which made it possible to develop an ancient galaxy. With the help of a computer program, they could not decipher and combine the images created by the gravitational lens.

Amber Jorgenson in Astronomy reports that ALMA has detected galactic wind gusts from the galaxy at 500 miles per second. They also found the chemical signatures of hydroxyl in the wind, an important component in the star forming regions, which meant that the wind was giving off star-shaped fuel in the space.

The next question is whether these types of winds were common in early galaxies or if SPT2319-55 is a special case.

"Until now, we have observed only one galaxy at such a remarkable cosmic distance, but we would like to know if winds like these are also present in other galaxies." to see how common they are, "says Spilker in the statement. "If they occur in virtually every galaxy, we know that molecular winds are both ubiquitous and widespread. galaxies to self-regulate their growth. "

Letzter at LiveScience reports that researchers are not sure that the galactic wind will allow SPT2319-55 to live a long cosmic life. It is possible that the wind is not strong enough to slow the formation of stars, which means that the galaxy could die young anyway. It is also possible that there are so many things black matter around the galaxy, it will trap gases expelled by the galactic wind, preventing gas from falling back into the galaxy and starve it and extinguish it.

Whatever happens, it is likely that all this galactic wind will not be wasted. Another recent study shows that half of our own Milky Way galaxy is in material ejected by the galactic winds in other galaxies, suggesting that even though SPT2319-55 had burned a long time ago, part of it probably still lives somewhere.

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