Two possible polar ring galaxies, described as strange objects, were recently discovered by a team of astronomers.
A polar ring galaxy has a ring of stars and gas oriented at 90 degrees to its main disk as well as to other stars in the region.
This possible discovery suggests that polar galaxies may not be as rare as scientists once thought.
“Polar ring galaxies are some of the most spectacular galaxies in the universe,” said team co-leader Nathan Degg, a researcher at Queen’s University. stated in a statement. “These findings suggest that 1 to 3 percent of nearby galaxies may have gaseous polar rings, which is much higher than optical telescopes suggest.”
The two galaxies were named NGC 4632 in the constellation Virgo, about 56 million light-years from Earth, and NGC 6156 in the constellation Ara, about 150 million light-years away from Earth. The features of the two galactic rings are hidden in visible light and are invisible to the human eye because they capture light beyond the visible light spectrum, such as radio light from cold hydrogen gas. However, they become clear through radio observation.
Rings of stars and gas surrounding galaxies are thought to form during mergers, when larger galaxies swallow smaller galaxies. The gravitational influence of one galaxy drags a stream of matter away from the other galaxy. If polar galaxies are more common than originally thought, it means that these mergers also occur more frequently.
Studying polar galaxies may help scientists understand more about dark matter. A mysterious substance that is invisible to our eyes but accounts for approximately 85% of the matter in the universe.
“These results demonstrate the tremendous value of mapping the sky deeper and more broadly than has been done to date,” study co-lead and Queen’s University scientist Christine Speakers said in a statement. It shows it really well.” “This is serendipity at its finest. We found something we never expected to find.”
“We used the data to assign multiple colors,” said Jayan English, a University of Manitoba scientist and member of the discovery team. […] This is to subtly convey the movements occurring within the polar ring. ”
The color gradation within the ring is useful because it indicates the different orbital motions of the gas. The purple area at the bottom of the disk indicates the area moving toward Earth, and the white area at the top of the disk moves away from Earth.
“…the movement of that gas gives us some clues about how galaxies evolve over time,” English concluded.
The next step for researchers is to confirm that NGC 4632 and NGC 6156 are indeed polar galaxies by examining them with different telescopes.
The team’s findings were published in the journal Sept. 13. Royal Astronomical Society Monthly Notices.
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