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The formation of a star from a distant galaxy offers a sight to behold
Distant star formation offers spectacular captures through Alma Observatory in the Atacama desert, Chile.
The galaxy which is home to the captured star known by the name of SDP.81, is placed not closer than 12 billion light years away. The close-up view of the star formation was possible thanks to the gravitational lensing, an astronomical effect well known to scientists.
In plainer words, such effect can be better understood if we trace the steps took by the scientists who have exploited the gravitational field of a nearby galaxy in order to en-capture the light of the more distant galaxy.
This phenomenon is also known to be none other than the so called Einstein Ring. The scientist explained how when any source of light approaches a curved space, time follows through as well, curving itself on the pattern of the object.
By this affirmation, Einstein was able to predict long ago what we call today the gravitational lenses.
The Hubble Telescope has done amazing job in the past, but astronomers say that never before, have they been able to capture such a close-up image of such a distant galaxy, so thumbs up for the 66 high precision radio telescope antennas of Chile’s Alma Observatory.
University of Tokyo and Durham University’s researchers made use of the visual information collected by Alma Observatory and came up with interesting new data of the far-away galaxy. They have calculated it mass, measured its rotation and even discovered a gigantic black hole in the galaxy’s foreground.
The captures also show that the galaxy holds numerous formations of stars and is being compared by astronomers with Orion nebula who produces an even greater number of star formations in a further “corner” of our Universe.
Other data shows the instability of the gas contained in the far-away galaxy, which could conduct, in the future, to the formation of new giant stars.
The efforts made by the assistant professors from the University of Tokyo – along with researchers from the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan offer new insight into the galaxies’ process of evolution and move us a step forward toward the comprehension of our Universe.
Image Source: Nature World News
