NEW GALAXY FINDING CHALLENGES EARLY UNIVERSE THEORY
A newly discovered galaxy, named Alaknanda after a river in the Himalayas, is baffling scientists with it’s surprisingly mature structure, according to researchers at the National Center for Radio Astrophysics affiliated with the Tata Institute of Essential Research. The galaxy dates back 12 billion years and possesses two prominent spiral arms and a bright central bulge.
“It looks stunningly similar” to the Milky Way, stated Rashi Jain, a member of the research team. “However, galaxies formed in such an early period were expected to be chaotic, hot and structurally distorted.”
The discovery, published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics in November, suggests that complex galactic structures formed much earlier in the universe than previously believed. Professor Yogesh Wadadekar explained that the galaxy’s movements will provide crucial insights into the formation of spiral arms.
alaknanda is approximately 30,000 light-years in diameter – roughly one-third the size of the Milky Way – and contains an estimated 10 billion stars. Researchers will next examine the kinematics of the galaxy’s gas and star structure to further understand its development.