Jakarta –
Recently astronomers revealed a rare new galaxy discovery. This spiral-shaped galaxy is named NGC 4632. It is known that this galaxy is wrapped in a very large band of hydrogen. What does it look like?
The discovery of this new galaxy is the result of observations using the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) radio telescope belonging to the scientific research organization CSIRO in the Wajarri Yamaji region, Western Australia.
The discovery of the spiral galaxy NGC 4632 has also been uploaded in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
Polar Ring Galaxy
Astronomers say that the remnant galaxy NGC 4632 turns out to be a very rare formation called a “polar ring galaxy”. It is so called because hydrogen rings appear to rotate above the poles of the galactic disk.
The gas in the ring, which makes up about half the system’s mass, likely comes from a companion galaxy.
“Polar ring galaxies are one of the most spectacular galaxies we can see. Apart from being beautiful, they also provide important clues about the formation and growth of galaxies over time,” said Nathan Deg from Queen’s University Canada who led this research, quoted from The Conversations.
Interestingly, the location and motion of the polar rings is known to provide information about the shape of the invisible dark matter halos that astronomers believe surround most galaxies.
Rich in Cold Hydrogen Gas
In general, spiral galaxies like NGC 4632 are usually found in conditions rich in cold hydrogen gas. This gas provides fuel for star formation and usually extends far beyond the bright stellar disk.
On the outskirts of spiral galaxies, there is usually a curved disk of gas. Some of this curvature is caused by the galaxy’s gravitational pull on its neighbors, thereby stealing gas that collects in the galaxy’s outer disk or forms polar rings.
This is a fairly common process by which galaxies grow. Like the Milky Way Galaxy where our Earth is located, which is known to have consumed several small galaxies.
Polar Ring Galaxy Hunt
Deg admitted that he was first inspired to study polar ring galaxies in the 1990s because of astronomers named Penny Sackett and Linda Sparke.
He is eager to understand what these strange cosmic structures can reveal about dark matter.
Deg therefore collaborated with Magda Arnaboldi to observe hydrogen in the nearby galaxy NGC 4650A using CSIRO’s Australian Compact Array (ATCA) Telescope in the Gomeroi Region, outside Narrabri, New South Wales.
In his latest paper, Deg highlights two unusual galaxies out of 600 galaxies discovered in the Wallaby pilot study.
“Finding two potential polar ring galaxies in the Wallaby pilot survey is very exciting, because it suggests that these objects may be more common than previously thought,” he said.
He hopes the complete Wallaby survey will reveal more than 200,000 hydrogen-rich galaxies, including unusual objects such as the polar rings around NGC 4632. This will help astronomers learn more about dark matter.
Watch the video “James Webb Telescope Reveals the Beauty of Spiral Galaxy M51”
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2023-09-20 03:30:26
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