Scientists have proudly shared that they have discovered 39 ancient galaxies that were previously “invisible” to the Hubble.
According to the researchers, the new finding of the ancient galaxies completely redefines our current models of the universe.
“This is the first time that such a large population of massive galaxies was confirmed during the first two billion years of the 13.7-billion-year life of the universe,” researcher Tao Wang of the University of Tokyo expressed.
“These were previously invisible to us. This finding contravenes current models for that period of cosmic evolution and will help to add some details, which have been missing until now.”
As the experts explained, the galaxies are invisible to the human eye and were only detected thanks to the joint power of various astronomical observatories across the globe.
“The light from these galaxies is very faint with long wavelengths invisible to our eyes and undetectable by Hubble,” Professor Kotaro Kohno added.
“So we turned to the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), which is ideal for viewing these kinds of things. I have a long history with that facility and so knew it would deliver good results.”
According to the scientists, the light emitted by these ancient galaxies is weak and stretched out despite their huge size which is why they were previously undetectable.
“It was tough to convince our peers these galaxies were as old as we suspected them to be. Our initial suspicions about their existence came from the Spitzer Space Telescope’s infrared data,” Dr. Wang added.
“But ALMA has sharp eyes and revealed details at submillimeter wavelengths, the best wavelength to peer through dust present in the early universe.
“Even so, it took further data from the imaginatively named Very Large Telescope in Chile to really prove we were seeing ancient massive galaxies where none had been seen before.”
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