Rubin โObservatory’s Firstโ light Reveals Unexpected Stellar Stream Behind Galaxy M61
Chile – In aโข stunning early result, theโข Vera C. Rubin Observatory has detected a โpreviously unseen stellar stream trailing the iconicโ galaxy Messier 61, hinting at a past galacticโ collision and demonstrating theโ observatory’s potential to reshape our understanding of โcosmic history. โThe discovery was made while examining the observatory’s first test โขimage, even before the commencement of its official scientific survey.
“This is the first stellar โstream detected from Rubin,” says โSarah Pearson, an astrophysicist at the Universityโค of Copenhagen. “And it’s just a precursor for allโ of the many, many features we’ll findโ like this.” The findings have been reportedโค in the Research Notes of โฃthe American Astronomical Society1.
Messier 61, first observed in 1779 within โthe Virgo Cluster, is a well-studied “starburst galaxy” known for its high rateโ of starโข formation and frequent supernovae. Despite extensive observation with powerful telescopes โคlike the โJames Webb and Hubble โขSpace Telescopes, the stellar stream remained undetected until now.
“Despite all of โขthis intense study, no one had ever found this stellarโค stream,” says Aaron Romanowsky, an astronomer at San Jose state University in California and a co-authorโฃ of the study. The newly โขdiscovered stream suggests that โMessier 61 gravitationally disrupted and absorbed a smaller galaxy, leaving โbehind a trail of stars.
1 Research โNotes โคof the American Astronomical Society.