Witnessing the early growth of a giant

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Witnessing the early growth of a giant

First ever sighting of galaxy core formation

Astronomers have uncovered for the first time the earliest stages of a massive galaxy forming in the young Universe. The discovery was made possible through combining observations from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, ESA's Herschel Space Observatory, and the W.M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii. The growing galaxy core is blazing with the light of millions of newborn stars that are forming at a ferocious rate. The paper appears in the journal Nature on 27 August.

Elliptical galaxies are large, gas-poor gatherings of older stars and are one of the main types of galaxy along with their spiral and lenticular relatives. Galaxy formation theories suggest that giant elliptical galaxies form from the inside out, with a large core marking the very first stages of formation.

However, evidence of this early construction phase has eluded astronomers — until now.

Source

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Zoom into a distant galaxy core in the Hubble GOODS North field

This zoom begins with an expansive view of the deep sky Hubble Space Telescope survey called GOODS North (Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey).

Zooming into this field reveals a compact galactic core dubbed GOODS-N-774, the first galaxy spotted in this stage of formation — a very early stage where the dense galactic core is still furiously churning out newborn stars.

Credit: NASA, ESA. Music: movetwo

Source: ESA Hubble Site