The oldest spiral galaxy in the known universe has been discovered and then photographed, having formed as early as 1.4 billion years after the Big Bang.
The study of our universe continues unabated. While planetary scientists have recently shown us incredible images from Mars and played eerie tunes from the surface of Venus, it is now an amazing photo that captivates those who are enraptured by the stars.
We are looking at nothing less than an image of the oldest known spiral galaxy ever, which formed 12.4 billion years ago. Officially named BRI 1335-0417, it was first photographed by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) telescope in Chile. Di fatto, si tratta di un documento eccezionale, che dimostra come questo tipo di galassie iniziarono a formarsi già 1,4 miliardi di anni dopo il Big Bang. Certamente molto prima di quanto precedentemente ipotizzato.
Fonte foto: ALMA
La foto è stata pubblicata come parte di uno studio sulla rivista Science, e ci porta indietro al tempo in cui le galassie hanno iniziato ad assomigliare a quelle moderne. BRI 1335-0417 è quindi la più antica galassia a spirale scovata fino ad ora. It was spotted by two Japanese scientists, Takafumi Tsukui and Satoru Iguchi of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (Naoj).
And while the discovery may seem literally light years away from you, know that it’s actually very important, as explained in the voice of Kai Noeske, communications officer for the European Space Agency:
The interesting thing about this is that in these spiral arms the gas is compressed. So they are actually a catalyst to trigger the formation of new stars.
As a result, this fascinating creature generated in the early universe could go some way to explaining how galaxies similar to our own Milky Way formed and evolved. In the past, it was never detected because of the high concentration of dust that obscured the light of its stars. Thanks to new technologies we can both admire it and understand its scientific relevance through the simulation of its birth in this video.
According to studies conducted, the formation of galaxies reached its peak about 3.3 billion years after the Big Bang, when most of the stars in the universe began to form. Currently, spiral galaxies are estimated to account for about 70 percent of those in the observed universe.
Andrea Guerriero