Astronomers discovered 49 new galaxies in just 3 hours

By: Vlad Cherevko | 28.03.2024, 20:47

Astronomers have made a major discovery in astronomy by discovering 49 new galaxies in just 3 hours. These gaseous galaxies were discovered by a team using the MeerKAT radio telescope located in South Africa. They have been nicknamed the "Forty-Niners", after the gold prospectors who flocked to California during the gold rush that peaked in 1849.

The team of astronomers certainly weren't kidding when they stumbled upon nearly 50 new galaxies. They were trying to study the star-forming gas in a single radio galaxy. Instead, they found 49 new galaxies in observations lasting about 180 minutes, demonstrating the power of MeerKAT in discovering star-forming gas.

The 49 new galaxies detected by the MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa are shown as coloured contours: redder colours indicate more distant gas, bluer colours indicate closer gas

Many of the 49 new galaxies are close together and form galaxy groups. Three of these collections, which come in a variety of shapes and sizes, have particularly caught the astronauts' attention. Of the four galaxies visible in one image, three are connected by the gas content that passes through them.

In the four new galaxies, white outlines show how far the gas of these galaxies extends. The three galaxies are linked by their gas content

Source: Space