The Gemini North Telescope turns its gaze toward a massive elliptical galaxy in the Perseus cluster

Using the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrometer (GMOS) on the Gemini North Telescope at the NSF International Gemini Observatory, operated by NOIRLab, astronomers have detected NGC 1270 and several other objects in the central region of the massive Perseus galaxy cluster. We captured some amazing images of the galaxy.

NGC1270 It is located approximately 250 million light years away in the constellation Perseus.

This elliptical galaxy is discovered It was discovered on February 14, 1863 by German astronomer Heinrich Durest.

NGC 1270, also known as LEDA 12350 or UGC 2660, is estimated to be about 11 billion years old.

It is part of a group of thousands of galaxies called the Perseus Cluster.

“It's surprising to think that when NGC 1270 was first discovered in 1863, it wasn't widely accepted that other galaxies even existed,” NOIRLab astronomers said.

“Many of the objects we now know to be galaxies were originally described as nebulae because of their cloudy, amorphous appearance.”

“The idea that they are entities as large as our Milky Way, or 'island universe' as Immanuel Kant called it, has been speculated by several astronomers throughout history, but has never been proven. It was.”

“Rather, many thought it was a small object on the outskirts of the Milky Way, which many believed made up most or all of the universe.”

“The nature of these mysterious celestial bodies and the size of the universe were the subject of astronomy's famous Great Debate in 1920 between astronomers Heber Curtis and Harlow Shapley.”

“This debate was not settled until 1924, when Edwin Hubble used the Hooker Telescope at Mount Wilson Observatory to observe stars in several nebulae and calculate how far they were from Earth. The results were conclusive. They were far beyond the Milky Way.”

“Astronomers' conception of the universe has changed dramatically, and we now have strange, distant galaxies with millions of galaxies as large and complex as ours.”

“As imaging technology improves and penetrates deeper into space, astronomers are able to observe these 'island universes' closer and closer and infer what they are like.” said the researchers.

“For example, researchers have observed intense electromagnetic energy emanating from the core of NGC 1270, suggesting that NGC 1270 is home to a supermassive black hole that feeds it furiously. It is suggested.”

“This feature is found in about 10% of galaxies and can be detected by the presence of an accretion disk, an intense vortex of matter that swirls around it and is gradually engulfed by the central black hole.”

“Astronomers aren't just interested in individual galaxies; their relationships and interactions with each other provide clues to many ongoing mysteries.”

“For example, the fact that huge clusters like the Perseus cluster always exist indicates the existence of a mysterious substance we call dark matter.”

“If such invisible, gravitationally interacting matter did not exist, astronomers believe that galaxies would be spread out more or less evenly throughout the universe, rather than clustering together in dense star clusters. ”

“Current theory suggests that an invisible web of dark matter pulls galaxies to the intersections of giant tendrils where their gravity is strongest,” the researchers added.

“Dark matter is often invoked to explain the observed structure of the universe, but the nature of the matter itself remains elusive.”

“When we look at images like this, and given the advances in understanding over the past century, there is an intriguing hint that we may discover much more in the coming decades.”

“Perhaps images like these hold hints to the next big breakthrough. How much more will we know about the universe in another century?”

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This article has been adapted from the original release by NOIRLab.