NGC1386 is a spiral galaxy located 53 million light years away in the constellation Eridanus.
This image of NGC 1386 combines data from VST and ALMA. Image credits: ESO / ALMA / National Astronomical Observatory of Japan / NRAO / Prieto others. / Deep investigation of Fornax.
Dr. Almudena Prieto of the Canarias Institute for Astronomy and colleagues observed the central region of NGC 1386 as part of an experiment. PARSEC projecta parsec-scale multiwavelength survey of the nearest galactic center.
“Stars often form in star clusters, which are collections of thousands of stars that originate from giant clouds of molecular gas,” the astronomers said.
“The blue ring at the center of this galaxy is ripe with star clusters filled with young stars.”
To examine this ring in more detail, Dr. Prieto and his co-authors used data from ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT) and the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.
The data shows that these clusters all formed around the same time 4 million years ago.
“This is the first time that synchronous star formation has been observed in a galaxy containing mainly old stars,” the researchers said.
They used the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) to uncover further secrets of NGC 1386.
“The new images show numerous gas clouds as golden rings, ready to form a second wave of young stars,” the scientists said.
“But we still have to wait five million years for these to emerge.”
“Even though it is old, NGC 1386 continues to rejuvenate,” the researchers added.
of findings Published in September 2024. Royal Astronomical Society Monthly Notices.
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Almudena Prieto others. 2024. PARSEC's view of star formation at the galactic center: from primordial clusters to star clusters in early-type spirals. MNRAS 533 (1): 433-454;doi: 10.1093/mnras/stae1822
Source: www.sci.news
