7 October 2010
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| Caption: A simulation of a star-forming galaxy similar to those observed. Cold gas (red) flowing onto a spiral galaxy feeds star formation. This intense star formation drives turbulent outflows (blue). Image credit: Robert Crain, James Geach, the Virgo Consortium, Andy Green and Swinburne Astronomy Productions |
Work based on data from the Australian Astronomical Observatory has discounted
one explanation of how stars are formed.
The research is this week’s cover story in the journal Nature
[7 October 2010].
In their paper ("High star formation rates as the origin of turbulence
in early and modern disk galaxies"), Swinburne University astronomy
student Andy Green, Green's supervisor and team leader Professor Karl Glazebrook,
and their colleagues report finding galaxies in today's Universe that were
thought to exist only in the distant past.
"They’re living fossils of space—galaxies we just didn’t
expect to find in today’s world," said Green.
The galaxies in question are like our own Galaxy in shape, but unlike our
Galaxy they are physically turbulent and are forming lots of stars.
Astronomers see many of them in the distant, early Universe, but they are
rare now, and this team is the first to find any in today's Universe.
The finding knocks on the head one way astronomers thought stars might form.
Stars form from gas, and to form rapidly they need a good supply of it.
Astronomers had thought that star formation in distant, early galaxies might
be fuelled by cold streams of gas continually falling into those galaxies.
But this mechanism could only work when the Universe was young. Finding
these modern galaxies frenziedly forming new stars calls this idea into
question.
Instead it seems more likely that galaxies get their new gas through 'mergers
and acquisitions'—merging with like-sized counterparts or swallowing
smaller galaxies.
To find the very rare, turbulent galaxies, the research team had to observe
many galaxies, over a large volume of sky.
They started by selecting galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey that
showed a key indicator of star formation—a bright H-alpha spectral
line emitted by hydrogen gas.
Green then observed these chosen galaxies with the 3.9-m Anglo-Australian
Telescope (AAT), operated by the Australian Astronomical Observatory, and
the 2.3-metre telescope of the Australian National University, both located
at Siding Spring Observatory in New South Wales. About two-thirds of the
data came from the AAT.
Australian Astronomical Observatory Director, Professor Matthew Colless,
was a member of the research team. He says the study shows the value of
the Australian telescopes for complementing observations of the very distant
Universe.
"Our telescopes are ideal for detailed study of the nearby counterparts
of galaxies seen in the distant universe by the giant eight- and ten-metre
telescopes," he said. "That's essential for piecing together the
history of the Universe, from ancient times down to the present."
The Australian Astronomical Observatory is part of the Commonwealth Department
of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research.
Andrew W. Green, Karl Glazebrook, Peter J. McGregor, Roberto G. Abraham,
Gregory B. Poole, Ivana Damjanov, Patrick J. McCarthy, Matthew Colless &
Robert G. Sharp. "High star formation rates as the origin of turbulence
in early and modern disk galaxies." Nature 467,
684 (7 October 2010).
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v467/n7316/full/nature09452.html
Mr Andy Green
Swinburne University of Technology (Melbourne, Australia)
Tel: +61 (0)3 9214 5846
agreen@astro.swin.edu.au
Professor Karl Glazebrook
Acting Director, Centre for Astrophysics & Supercomputing, Swinburne
University of Technology
Mob: +61 416 094 732
karl@astro.swin.edu.au
Professor Matthew Colless
Director, Australian Astronomical Observatory (Sydney, Australia)
Tel: +61 (0)2 9372 4812
Mob: +61 (0)431 898 345
director@aao.gov.au