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We might finally know how galaxies grow so large
- A new research letter in Nature, titled "In situ spheroid formation in distant submillimetre-bright galaxies," has brought astronomers closer to understanding how galaxies become so massive.
- The lead author is Qing-Hua Tan from the Purple Mountain Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China. Dr. Annagrazia Puglisi from the University of Southampton co-authored the research.
- The researchers used the ALMA to examine highly luminous starburst galaxies in the distant Universe.
- The brightness profiles of over 100 ancient galaxies analyzed by the team reveal that most have tri-axial shapes rather than flat disks, indicating them to be spheroids.
- The Sersic index, characterizing the radial distribution of light coming from galaxies, and the Spergel index, used to classify the distribution of dark matter, helped the team characterize the complex structure of galaxies.
- Through mergers, the galaxies formed through intense episodes of star formation located in the cores of distant galaxies.
- These types of galaxies were more plentiful in the early Universe than they are now. The researchers’ results show that these galaxies used up their fuel quickly, forming the spheroids that are now populated by old stars.
- The researchers' findings could help in understanding how galaxies grow and the evolution of the universe since the beginning of time.
- This new research has relied on observations with a higher signal-to-noise ratio than previous research.
- The findings of the new research will redefine our understanding of how galaxies were created in the early universe.
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