The lonely galaxy 3C 297, located 9.2 billion light-years from Earth, has special attributes normally discovered in galaxy clusters. Astronomers suggest it may be a “fossil group,” soaking up former buddy galaxies, making it the most distant fossil group ever found.
Chandra X-ray Observatory Helps Astronomers Discover a Surprisingly Lonely Galaxy
The galaxy 3C297 has been found to be lonelier than expected, suggesting it has most likely pulled in and absorbed its previous companion galaxies. 3C297 includes a quasar, a supermassive great void drawing in gas at the center of the galaxy and driving effective jets of matter seen in radio waves. X-ray data from Chandra, radio data from the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array and visible information from Gemini suggest that even though 3C297s surroundings have numerous functions of a galaxy cluster, all but one galaxy stays. There is also visible light and infrared information from Hubble in this composite. Astronomers think this last large galaxy absorbed the others through its gravitational pull, and may push the limits for how rapidly astronomers expect galaxies to grow in the early universe. Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ. of Torino/V. Missaglia et al.; Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI & & International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/ AURA; Infrared: NASA/ESA/STScI; Radio: NRAO/AUI/NSF
The lonesome galaxy (3C 297) and the position of its supermassive black are identified in a labeled version of the image, along with the black holes jets, the X-ray hotspot and the hot gas. The field of view of this image is too small to show any of the 19 galaxies that are not at the same distance as 3C 297.
One proposal for what happened to the missing galaxies is that the gravitational pull of the largest galaxy, combined with the interactions between them, caused the buddy galaxies to be and fall taken in by the alpha. The team considers 3C 297 is probably a “fossil group” rather of a galaxy cluster, a stage of stellar development where one galaxy is pulling in and combining with others. If that holds true, 3C 297 represents the most distant fossil group ever found.
The authors can not dismiss the existence of dwarf galaxies around 3C 297, however their existence would still not describe the lack of bigger galaxies like the Milky Way. Neighboring examples are M87 in the Virgo Cluster, which has actually had big stellar companions for billions of years. 3C 297 will invest billions of years essentially alone.
The new study was published in the January 2023 problem of The Astrophysical Journal. Earlier Chandra observations lasting only three hours revealed hints of the hot gas seen in the brand-new research study, as reported by co-author Chiara Stuardi in a paper published in the April 2018 problem of The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. Much deeper Chandra observations, nevertheless, were needed to validate it. The Chandra observations of 3C 297 were taken control of a total time of 2.5 days in April and August of 2021 and 2022.
References:
” Powerful Yet Lonely: Is 3C 297 a High-redshift Fossil Group?” by Valentina Missaglia, Juan P. Madrid, Mischa Schirmer, Francesco Massaro, Alberto Rodríguez-Ardila, Carlos J. Donzelli, Martell Valencia, Alessandro Paggi, Ralph P. Kraft Chiara Stuardi and Belinda J. Wilkes, 14 December 2022, The Astrophysical Journal.DOI: 10.3847/ 1538-4365/ ac9f3e.
” The 3CR Chandra Snapshot Survey: Extragalactic Radio Sources with Redshifts in between 1 and 1.5 ″ by C. Stuardi, V. Missaglia, F. Massaro, F. Ricci, E. Liuzzo, A. Paggi, R. P. Kraft, G. R. Tremblay, S. A. Baum, C. P. ODea, B. J. Wilkes, J. Kuraszkiewicz, W. R. Forman and D. E. Harris, 2 April 2018, The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series.DOI: 10.3847/ 1538-4365/ aaafcf.
NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center manages the Chandra program. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatorys Chandra X-ray Center manages science operations from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts.
There is a surprisingly lonesome galaxy about 9.2 billion light-years from Earth.
Its environments have numerous features of a galaxy cluster, suggesting the galaxy has most likely drew in and absorbed its former companion galaxies.
Information from NASAs Chandra X-ray Observatory and the International Gemini Observatory were used for this discovery.
This outcome may press the limits for how rapidly galaxies are expected to grow in the early Universe.
The lonely galaxy 3C 297, situated 9.2 billion light-years from Earth, has special attributes normally discovered in galaxy clusters. In a number of concerns, 3C 297 has the qualities of a galaxy cluster, a massive structure that contains hundreds or even thousands of private galaxies. One proposition for what happened to the missing galaxies is that the gravitational pull of the largest galaxy, integrated with the interactions in between them, caused the companion galaxies to fall and be assimilated by the alpha. The team thinks about 3C 297 is most likely a “fossil group” instead of a galaxy cluster, a phase of stellar advancement where one galaxy is pulling in and merging with others. The authors can not rule out the presence of dwarf galaxies around 3C 297, but their presence would still not explain the absence of bigger galaxies like the Milky Way.
A distant– and lonesome– galaxy appears to have actually pulled in and took in all of its former companion galaxies. This result made with NASAs Chandra X-ray Observatory and the International Gemini Observatory might push the limitations for how quickly astronomers expect galaxies to grow in the early universe.
This image features a galaxy called 3C 297 that is lonelier than expected after it likely drawn in and absorbed its previous companion galaxies. The solo galaxy lies about 9.2 billion light-years from Earth and contains a quasar, a supermassive great void drawing in gas at the center of the galaxy and driving powerful jets of matter seen in radio waves. This outcome made with NASAs Chandra X-ray Observatory and the International Gemini Observatory may push the limits for how rapidly astronomers expect galaxies to grow in the early universe.
In numerous concerns, 3C 297 has the qualities of a galaxy cluster, a massive structure which contains hundreds and even countless specific galaxies. X-ray data from Chandra expose large amounts of gas heated up to millions of degrees– a signature function of a galaxy cluster. Astronomers also discovered a jet from the quasar– seen by the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array– that has actually been bent by connecting with its environments. Finally, Chandra information reveals proof that the other quasar jet has actually smashed into the gas around it, producing a “hotspot” of X-rays. These are normally attributes of a galaxy cluster. Yet, information from the Gemini Observatory reveal there is just one galaxy in 3C 297. The nineteen galaxies that appear near 3C 297 in a Gemini image are really at much different ranges.
