Huge galaxies expand, devouring smaller ones



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A new study reports that galaxies enlarge by devouring their smaller neighbors.

Simulation showing the distribution of the density of dark matter superimposed with the density of the gas. This image clearly shows the gas channels that connect the central galaxy to its neighbors. Image credit: Gupta et al./ASTRO 3D / IllustrisTNG collaboration.

A clear understanding of how massive galaxies become large is lacking, mainly because they enlarge over a period of billions of years. Currently, however, a research team led by Dr. Anshu Gupta of Australia’s ARC Center of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D) has developed a combination of modeling and observation, offering a vital clue. .

In a study published in the Astrophysical magazine, researchers integrate data from an Australian project called the Multiple Object Spectroscopic Emission Line Study (MOSEL) with a cosmological modeling program used on some of the world’s largest supercomputers to take a look at the forces these ancient beasts produce galactic.

According to Dr. Gupta, an analysis of how gases move within galaxies allows us to find the proportion of stars produced internally, and the proportion that effectively devours other parts.

We discovered that in ancient massive galaxies, about 10 billion light-years away from us, things move in many different directions. That strongly suggests that many of the stars within them have been acquired from without. In other words, large galaxies have been eating smaller ones..

Dr. Anshu Gupta, ARC Center of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions

Since light takes time to move through the universe, galaxies located at farther distances from the Milky Way are observed at an earlier point in their appearance. Dr. Gupta and her colleagues found that observing and modeling these distant galaxies reveals very little variation in their internal movements.

Then we had to find out why the “larger” and closer galaxies were so much more disordered than the “younger” and more distant ones. The most likely explanation is that in the billions of years that have passed the surviving galaxies have grown fat and messy by incorporating smaller ones. I consider it as large galaxies that have a constant case of cosmic munchies..

Dr. Kim-Vy Tran, Second Study Author, ARC Center of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions

Like Dr. Gupta, Dr. Tran is also based at UNSW Sydney.

The research group, which includes researchers from other Australian universities and institutions in Canada, the United States, the Netherlands, Belgium and Mexico, modeled on an exclusively developed set of simulations called IllustrisTNG.

The objective of this multi-year international study is to develop a range of large cosmological models of galaxy formation. The program is so large that it must run simultaneously on multiple powerful supercomputers around the world.

Modeling showed that younger galaxies have had less time to merge with each other. This gives a strong clue to what happens during an important stage of its evolution..

Dr. Anshu Gupta, ARC Center of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions

Source: https://astro3d.org.au/

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