Archaeological works among stars

2008/05/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Astronomia

In this photo taken by an astronomer we can see two things: Galaxy NGC 5097 and around it a spiral or more diffuse footprint. For that diffuse footprint is the remnants of a dwarf galaxy that died or disappeared million years ago, 40 million light years from Earth.

All this is investigated at the Instituto Canario de Astrofísica. They say their research is similar to archaeology on Earth. In fact, the origin of current galaxies is being studied. According to the most accepted theory, galaxies take their components from smaller galaxies around them. Therefore, the remains of this dwarf galaxy of the figure would be similar to the fossils found on Earth, as it is the ancestor of the current galaxy NGC 5907.