Astronomers are looking for other such galaxies in the early universe, proving theories that they can indeed reactivate.
Galaxy, universe. Photo: Unsplash
The universe is full Galaxies, made up of gases, dust, stars and planets. However, science found something it had never seen before: A galaxy that stopped forming stars 13 billion years ago.
The findings were published in the journal NatureBased on the observations of The James Webb Space Telescope And can help astronomers understand How and why galaxies stop forming new stars.
Galaxy. Photo: Unsplash.
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He lived fast and died young
Researchers believe that this galaxy is collapsing “Must have lived fast and died young“, that is, it forms stars very quickly and stops forming them very quickly.
According to calculations, this galaxy experienced an extreme rotation Star formation In the interim 30 and 90 million years But it suddenly stopped.
In addition to being The oldest of its kind Observed to date, this galaxy has a Relatively low mass: A dwarf galaxy near the Milky Way, similar to the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC).
Galaxy, universe. Photo: Unsplash
However, there are still questions to be answered. The device cannot detect whether it is in the “off” state Permanent or temporaryOr what was The reason His arrest.
“The First Hundred Million Years of the Universe A The most active phase, In this, gas clouds collapse more easily to form new stars,” explains Tobias Loser, a researcher at the University of Cambridge's Kawli Institute of Cosmology, in the institute's report.
“The stars need enough Gas supply to create new stars, and, in that sense, The early universe was like an all-you-can-eat buffet” he adds.
Galaxy, universe. Photo: Unsplash
For his part, Francesco di Eugenio, another of the authors, explains, “It could be the galaxies of the early universe. “They die and then come back to life.”Although more research is needed to confirm this.
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Possible causes of this phenomenon
One of the reasons that can prevent stars from forming internal factors, A like A supermassive black hole This would expel gas from the galaxy, causing star formation to rapidly cease.
Another factor may be wakefulnessr Use the gas you have Too quickly and it can't be replaced quickly enough, causing galactic starvation.
Galaxy, universe. Photo: Unsplash
“We are not sure that any of these hypotheses can explain our observations. Now with the James Webb telescope,” says researcher Roberto Maiolino.
