The captivating g − r − z combined color image cut-out showcases a unique system discovered by astronomers from Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea. This rare find consists of five star-forming dwarf galaxies in the local universe, as detailed in a recent publication in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
Dwarf galaxies are intriguing low-luminosity and low-mass stellar systems that typically house a few billion stars. Uncommonly found together, these galaxies form groups where less than 5% have close companions. The chances of encountering at least four such objects within one group are less than 0.004%.
In an exceptional breakthrough, researchers led by Sanjaya Paudel have identified this distinct group of five dwarf galaxies aligned along a straight line in space, with three sharing a common rotational direction. Situated approximately 117.3 million light years away in an almost isolated setting, these dwarfs – named D1 to D5 – form an unusually thin planar structure.
Spanning about 502,000 light years spatially and exhibiting maximum differences in line-of-sight velocity up to 75 km/s between them, all five galaxies display active star formation processes and rich gas content. Notably, two members (D3 and D4) show indications of mutual tidal interactions.
Published on November 19th, this groundbreaking discovery sheds new light on the dynamics and formations within dwarf galaxy systems.
2024-11-25 09:15:02
Post from phys.org