Mystery of cosmic 'blob' solved

[Judi Lynn]

Mystery of cosmic 'blob' solved

Astronomers believe they may have solved the mystery behind a huge, bright cloud of gas found 11.5 billion lightyears away.
Wed Sep 21, 2016



A computer illustration of a Lyman-alpha blob. The image has been coloured so that cold gas
appears red and hot gas appears white. Red clumps in the image represent smaller galaxies
surrounding two larger star-forming galaxies.

Credit: J.Geach/D.Narayanan/R.Crain


Astronomers have discovered the nature of a massive object spotted in the distant Universe known as a Lyman-alpha Blob (LAB).

These objects are massive clouds of hydrogen that emit ultraviolet light, but the story behind their formation has remained a mystery, until now. Observations have revealed two galaxies at the heart of one LAB that are rapidly forming stars and giving off immense light.

A team of astronomers studied SSA22-Lyman-alpha blob1, one of the largest LABs known, and found two galaxies at its centre that are forming stars at a rate over 100 times that of the Milky Way.

Additional observations showed that the galaxies are surrounded by lots of smaller galaxies that may be firing material into them, feeding the frenzied star formation. The team believe they are witnessing the formation of a massive galaxy cluster 11.5 billion lightyears away.

More:
http://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/news/mystery-cosmic-blob-solved

[PJMcK]

1. Wow.

That is awesome and demonstrates how very big and old space is.

You're rather remarkable, Judi Lynn, in that you post lots of fascinating links. Thank you!

[ion_theory]

2. Always nice to take the time to slow...

...down and read up on something other than politics. Between my mixed emotions of laughter and fear in regards to this election cycle, quite a relief that something like this shows perspective on everything. Wish this kind of stuff was front page news from the Times to the NY Post.

[Hekate]

3. Wondrous...

[tclambert]

4. It amazes me that a hundred years ago, astronomers thought the Milky Way was the entire universe.

It wasn't until the 1920s that Edwin Hubble proved the Andromeda Nebula was another whole galaxy. How much our knowledge has grown.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

5. It's a window on the very early universe of 11.5 billion years ago.

[keithbvadu2]

6. A bunch of huge numbers in size, time and distance

A bunch of huge numbers in size, time and distance

Wonder if there is a 'Third Rock from the Sun' over there looking back at us now and we are not even around then (approx 4.5 billion years ago for our beginning and 11.5 billion years ago for what they are seeing)?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_the_Earth

They are thinking - what a wasteland!