Based on a recent press release issued by the space organization, ESO reveals the first photos of an early intergalactic formation. The recent withdrawn data has enabled scientists to shed light on one of the distant galaxies that was formed approximately 800 million years after the Big Bang.
Space experts have always been preoccupied with the identification of reionisation sources and interstellar medium and now they have finally had the opportunity of studying a similar process with the help of the recent images provided by ALMA. The Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) telescope is located in Chile and is one of the most reliable means of space investigation, according to scientists.
The large telescope has been provided with 66 radio antennas and has a 12-meter diameter, according to the description made by the European Souter Observatory. Thanks to these advanced tech specifications, the telescope has managed to take the first pictures of the BDF 3299 galaxy.
The analysis of the collected data has proven that the galaxy is one of the earliest galactic formations in the universe. It was estimated to have been formed around 800 million years after the Big Bang and it is now visible due to the ionized carbon clouds emitted by its new stars.
Scientists will continue to study the interaction between the specific ionized carbon emissions coming from the early galaxy and the new stars in order to better understand this phenomenon. Experts at ESO believe the new discovery has the ability to explain the formation and the evolution of such early galaxies.
The new pics that were taken by ALMA have great value for researchers at ESO because they have illustrated them that early galaxies were living formations with a well-established internal structure. Until recently, it was believed that these galaxies were only small blubs that evolved into the form we know them today much later.
According to Andrea Ferrara, one of the co-authors of the study, the gas that appears on the images suggests a reionization process is taking place inside the early galaxy. The gas most likely surfaces from the outskirts of BDF 3299 being pushed towards the margins by the newly formed stars at the center of the galaxy.
Interested readers can access the detailed explanation of the new finding on the official website of the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, where the study has been published.
Image source: www.nanowerk.com
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