Astronomers have made a significant breakthrough in understanding the formation and evolution of galactic bulges, also known as spheroids, which are found in both spiral and elliptical galaxies. Using the Atacama Large Millimetre/sub-millimetre Array, researchers studied highly luminous starburst galaxies in the distant Universe, providing crucial insights into the connection between these galaxies and spheroid formation.
Spiral galaxies and elliptical galaxies both contain bulges, also called spheroids. How these spheroids form and evolve is a puzzling question, but new research brings us closer to an answer. Image Credit: ESA
Astronomers don’t know how these ancient, bulging galaxies formed and evolved. However, a new research letter in Nature may finally have the answer. It’s titled “” The lead author is Qing-Hua Tan from the Purple Mountain Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China. Dr. Annagrazia Puglisi from the University of Southampton co-authored the research.
The researchers used ALMA to analyze more than 100 of these ancient galaxies with a new technique that measures their distribution of light. These brightness profiles show that the majority of the galaxies have tri-axial shapes rather than flat disks, indicating that something in their history made them misshapen.The Sersic index is a fundamental concept in describing the brightness profiles of galaxies.
This is a JWST image of an ancient galaxy merger from 13 billion years ago. The galaxy, named Gz9p3, has a double nucleus indicating that the merger is ongoing. While astronomers know that mergers are a critical part of galaxy growth and evolution, the role spheroids play has been difficult to discern. Image Credit: NASA/Boyett et al
Galaxies Spheroids Galactic Bulges Starburst Galaxies Evolution
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