US Edition'Space archaeology' reveals first dynamic history of a giant spiral galaxy
Using chemical fingerprints, astronomers traced NGC 1365's growth through repeated mergers and star formation, analyzing over 4,500 regions to reconstruct 12 billion years of evolution.
- On March 23, researchers published in Nature Astronomy a reconstruction of NGC 1365's 12 billion-year growth by reading chemical fingerprints beyond the Milky Way.
- Using TYPHOON survey data from the Irénée du Pont telescope at Las Campanas Observatory, researchers isolated individual star-forming regions in NGC 1365 for detailed chemical mapping.
- Researchers measured oxygen abundance across more than 4,500 regions of NGC 1365 and compared those patterns to roughly 20,000 IllustrisTNG simulations to infer the galaxy's assembly.
- The method offers a way to test whether the Milky Way's growth is typical, and researchers said the project was 50 percent theory and 50 percent observations.
- Its core formed early and became oxygen-rich, while outer regions grew through dwarf galaxy mergers that later built the spiral arms.
16 Articles
16 Articles
Extragalactic Archaeology: A New Method To Understand Galaxy Growth and Evolution
Galactic archaeology uses chemical fingerprints in the Milky Way to trace its formation and evolution. Now a team of researchers led by the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian have employed it for the first time in a distant galaxy. This is the first example of extragalactic archaeology, and it relies on help from the powerful Illustris TNG simulations.
Astronomers reconstruct a galaxy’s 12-billion-year history using chemical clues
For the first time, scientists have reconstructed the full history of a galaxy outside the Milky Way using chemical clues. By analyzing oxygen across NGC 1365 and comparing it with simulations, they traced its growth over 12 billion years. The findings show how its core formed early while its outer regions were built through repeated mergers. This new approach could transform how astronomers study galaxy evolution.
Astronomers Just Reconstructed a Galaxy’s 12-Billion-Year History
By reading the chemical “fingerprints” of a distant galaxy, astronomers reconstructed its 12-billion-year evolution. This new method could reveal how galaxies—including our own—were built over cosmic time. A team of astronomers led by the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian has, for the first time, applied galactic archaeology to uncover the history of a [...]
'Space archaeology' reveals first dynamic history of a giant spiral galaxy
A team of astronomers led by the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian have for the first time used galactic archaeology, the study of detailed chemical fingerprints in deep space, to trace the history of a galaxy outside the Milky Way. The study, published in Nature Astronomy, demonstrates a new way to reconstruct the evolution of distant galaxies, and opens up a new field of astronomy, called "extragalactic archaeology."
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