Scientists spot a far-off galaxy being fed by a stream of cold gas
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Scientists have discovered a distant galaxy being fed by a long and cold stream of gas. This hints at a new way for galaxies to grow in the early phases of the universe.
The Anthill Galaxy is 12 billion light years away from Earth.
Astronomer Bjorn Emonts said that people don't think streams could get so cold. The new analysis shows that a frigid stream of gas stretched at least 325,000 light-years away from the galaxy. It carries the mass of 70 billion suns and deposits the equivalent of about 450 suns in cold gas onto the galaxy every year. This is enough to double the galaxy's mass within a billion years.
The newly discovered phenomenon suggests that early galaxies grew by drinking directly from the cosmic streams. This may surpass the current leading hypothesis of violent galaxy mergers.
Researchers had earlier predicted that the streams of gas may connect galaxies to the cosmic web but expected this gas to be warm which would have made it unsuitable for star-forming fuel and galaxy growth.
"People didn’t think that these streams could get so cold," said Emonts. Researchers are particularly interested in radio wavelengths of light that carbon atoms emit when the temperature is between about -260° and -160° Celsius.