It’s a cosmic pileup in the far reaches of the universe and nothing like it has ever been seen before.
Using the most powerful telescopes on Earth, astronomers have spotted 14 burning-hot galaxies hurtling toward each other on an inevitable galactic collision course at the edge of the observable universe.
Computer models show that when these galaxies do collide they will form the core of a colossal galaxy cluster so large it will be the most massive structure known in the cosmos.
This chaotic, energy-filled region, described Wednesday in Nature, is called a protocluster, and researchers say it is more active than any other section of the universe they have ever observed.
“There are huge energetics involved, like 10,000 supernova going off at a time, quite literally,” said Scott Chapman, a physicist at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada, who worked on the study.
As if all that wasn’t crazy enough, the authors said that the 14 galaxies are known as “starburst galaxies,” which means they are forming stars at a furious rate.
The research team estimates that they could be making stars as much as 1,000 times faster than the Milky Way.
And they are all crammed into a space just three times the size of our own galaxy.
In addition, the whole system is located 90 percent of the way to the edge of the observable universe.
It is so far away that it takes light 12.4 billion years to travel across space from the protocluster to telescopes on Earth.
That means that this glowing star-generator formed just 1.4 billion years after the universe itself came into being.
And it’s that fact in particular that has astrophysicists scratching their heads.
“We don’t know how it is possible,” Chapman said. “We don’t know how you get those 14 galaxies right down the center of the protocluster at such an early time.”
Nothing that big and active should have been able to form so long ago, he said.
“We see the structure of the universe building up slowly from little bits, and then merging together to make bigger bits. We don’t expect bigger galaxies to form until much later,” he said.
The earliest hint that something strange was going on in this part of the sky came in 2010 from data collected by the South Pole Telescope in Antarctica.
Although this instrument was designed to find relatively nearby galaxy clusters, astronomers realized it could also be used to spot extremely bright structures from a great distance away in both space and time.
The protocluster described in the new work showed up as a small but unusual smudge of light.
Still, astronomers found it compelling enough to request time on the ALMA telescope in the Chilean desert to take a closer look at its structure.
Observations made with ALMA revealed that the center of the smudge was actually 14 distinct galaxies and that the protocluster was a whopping 12.4 billion light-years from Earth.
Chapman said that was one of the big “wow” moments.
“If it had been much closer it would still be the busiest place in the universe that we know of, but it would be less shocking,” he said.
ALMA is great at zooming in and seeing details of objects, but it has a very narrow field of view, Chapman said. It could only see the center of the smudge that the South Pole Telescope detected.
The authors estimate that there could be 1,000 more galaxies in the surrounding region of space.
“Most of them will be too faint to see, even with ALMA, but we can probably find another 50 galaxies,” Chapman said.
The team has already started looking. Chapman said new observations are coming in even now.
“This really launched a massive study,” he said.
In the meantime, astronomers will be busy puzzling over how such a large structure could form so early in the universe.
Expect new hypotheses to come soon.
“People are very resourceful at coming up with answers, after the fact,” Chapman said.
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Ni mkusanyiko wa vitu vya angani katika sehemu za mbali za ulimwengu na hakuna kitu kama hicho ambacho kimeonekana hapo awali. Kwa kutumia darubini zenye nguvu zaidi duniani, wataalamu wa nyota wamegundua nyota 14 zenye joto kali zikielekea kwa kasi kwenye mstari wa mgongano wa nyota katika ukingo wa ulimwengu unaoweza kuonekana. Mifano ya kompyuta inaonyesha kwamba wakati galaxi hizi zinapogongana, zitaunda kiini cha kundi kubwa la galaxies, kubwa sana hivi kwamba itakuwa muundo mkubwa zaidi unaojulikana katika ulimwengu. "Uwanja huu wenye fujo na wenye nishati, ulioelezwa katika jarida la Nature, unaitwa ""protocluster"" na watafiti wanasema ni wenye shughuli nyingi kuliko sehemu nyingine yoyote ya ulimwengu ambayo wamewahi kuiona." "Kuna nishati kubwa inayohusika, kama supernova 10,000 zinazojitokeza kwa wakati mmoja, kihalisi kabisa, ""alisema Scott Chapman, mwanafizikia katika Chuo Kikuu cha Dalhousie huko Halifax, Canada, ambaye alifanya kazi kwenye utafiti huo." "Kama kwamba yote hayo hayakuwa ya kutosha, waandishi walisema kwamba galaxies 14 zinajulikana kama ""starburst galaxies,"" ambayo ina maana kwamba wao ni kuunda nyota kwa kasi ya hasira." Watafiti wanasema kuwa nyota hizo zinatokea mara 1,000 kwa kasi kuliko nyota za Milky Way. Zinajikusanya katika nafasi kubwa mara tatu ya ukubwa wa galaksi yetu. Kwa kuongezea, mfumo wote uko katika asilimia 90 ya njia ya ukingo wa ulimwengu unaoweza kuchunguzwa. Inachukua mwanga miaka 12.4 bilioni kusafiri katika anga kutoka protocluster hadi telescopes duniani. Hii inamaanisha kwamba nyota hii ya nyota ilitokea miaka bilioni 1.4 tu baada ya ulimwengu kuanzishwa. Na ni ukweli huo hasa ambao una astrophysicists scratching vichwa vyao. "Hatujui jinsi inavyowezekana", Chapman alisema. "Hatujui jinsi unavyoweza kupata magalaksi hayo 14 katikati ya protocluster wakati wa mapema kama huo. ""Hakuna kitu kikubwa na hai ambacho kingeweza kuundwa muda mrefu uliopita, "alisema. <unk>Tunaona muundo wa ulimwengu ukijengwa polepole kutoka kwa vipande vidogo, na kisha kuunganishwa pamoja ili kutengeneza vipande vikubwa zaidi. "Hatutarajii galaksi kubwa zaidi kufanyizwa hadi baadaye sana", alisema. Ugunduzi wa kwanza wa kwamba kuna kitu cha ajabu kinachotokea katika sehemu hii ya anga ulikuja mwaka 2010 kutoka kwa data zilizokusanywa na darubini ya South Pole Telescope huko Antarctica. Ingawa chombo hicho kilitengenezwa ili kugundua makundi ya nyota yaliyo karibu, wataalamu wa nyota walitambua kwamba kinaweza pia kutumiwa kuona miundo yenye kung'aa sana kutoka mbali sana katika nafasi na wakati. Mkusanyiko huo uliorodheshwa katika kazi hiyo mpya ulionekana kuwa madoa madogo lakini yasiyo ya kawaida ya nuru. Hata hivyo, wataalamu wa nyota waliiona kuwa yenye kushawishi vya kutosha kuomba wakati kwenye darubini-upeo ya ALMA katika jangwa la Chile ili kuchunguza kwa karibu muundo wake. Uchunguzi uliofanywa na ALMA ulifunua kwamba katikati ya madoa hayo kulikuwa na galaksi 14 tofauti na kwamba kundi hilo la galaksi lilikuwa umbali wa miaka 12.4 bilioni ya nuru kutoka duniani. Chapman alisema kwamba ilikuwa moja ya kubwa <unk>wow<unk> wakati. "Ikiwa ingekuwa karibu zaidi bado ingekuwa mahali pa shughuli nyingi zaidi katika ulimwengu ambao tunajua, lakini ingekuwa ya kushangaza kidogo", alisema. "Alma ni kubwa katika zooming katika na kuona maelezo ya vitu, lakini ina uwanja mdogo sana wa mtazamo, ""Chapman alisema." Ilikuwa na uwezo wa kuona tu katikati ya madoa ambayo Darubini ya Ncha ya Kusini iligundua. Watafiti hao wanakadiria kwamba kunaweza kuwa na galaksi zaidi ya 1,000 katika eneo hilo la angani. "Mengi yao yatakuwa dhaifu sana kuonekana, hata na ALMA, lakini tunaweza kupata galaxies nyingine 50," Chapman alisema. Timu tayari imeanza kutafuta. Chapman alisema uchunguzi mpya unakuja hata sasa. "Hii kweli ilizindua utafiti mkubwa", alisema. Kwa sasa, wataalamu wa nyota wanajitahidi kuelewa jinsi kiumbe hicho kilivyoweza kutokea mapema sana katika ulimwengu. Tazamia nadharia mpya zitokeze hivi karibuni. "Watu ni wenye busara sana katika kupata majibu, baada ya ukweli", Chapman alisema. 2018 Los Angeles Times, iliyotolewa na Tribune Content Agency, LLC