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