Astronomers know that galaxies grow over time through mergers with other galaxies.
"We find clear kinematic evidence for shell structures in the Giant Stellar Stream, the Northeast Shelf and Western Shelf regions," the paper states."The kinematics are remarkably similar to the predictions of dynamical models constructed to explain the spatial morphology of the inner halo. The results are consistent with the interpretation that much of the substructure in the inner halo of M31 is produced by a single galactic immigration event 1–2 Gyr ago.
The study highlights similarities between Andromeda and Milky Way, strengthening the theoretical idea that mergers play a key role in galactic evolution and growth."M31 is remarkably similar to the Milky Way in that the inner halos of both galaxies are dominated by stars from a single accretion event," the paper states.
"It's amazing that we can look out at the sky and read billions of years of another galaxy's history as written in the motions of its stars."It was designed to measure the spectra of over 40 billion distant galaxies and quasars to map the large-scale structure of the Universe and how dark energy fuels its expansion. Along the way, it's showing us how galaxies merge over time.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Astronomers Amazed By Tiny Object With Huge Planetary RingA newly discovered ring system belonging to the dwarf planet Quaoar is so large that astronomers are rethinking previously theorized limits on ring sizes.
Read more »
The Seven-Year Photobomb: Astronomers Discover Source of Distant Star’s Unusual DimmingBy their own admission, Anastasios “Andy” Tzanidakis and James Davenport are interested in unusual stars. The University of Washington astronomers were searching for 'stars behaving weirdly' when they were alerted by the Gaia survey about Gaia17bpp. The survey data showed that this star had graduall
Read more »
Astronomers discovered a rare star system ready to explode in a massive ‘kilonova’Astronomers have discovered an exceptionally rare system set to end in a kilonova explosion so rare we've never found one before.
Read more »
Astronomers Find 'Mirror Image' of The Milky Way From Billions of Years AgoEver wonder what our Milky Way galaxy looked like in its early history? Astronomers using the Webb Telescope (JWST) found another galaxy that's almost a mirror image of our galaxy as an infant.
Read more »
Volunteer astronomers bring wonders of the universe into prisonsPrison-education programs run by volunteer astronomers in Washington and New Jersey improve science literacy among adult and juvenile populations.
Read more »
Hubble Space Telescope Directly Measures the Mass of the Surviving Core of a Burned-Out Sunlike StarAstronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have for the first time directly measured the mass of a single, isolated white dwarf star – the surviving core of a burned-out sunlike star. Researchers found that the white dwarf is 56 percent of the mass of our Sun. This agrees with earlier
Read more »