A new image taken by the Joint Japan-European Space Telescope has shown a vast region of star formation in the outer fringes of galaxy M101. The scientists: This is a rare phenomenon - usually new stars are formed near the center of the galaxy
A new image taken by the space telescope shared by Japan and Europe - Akari, showed a huge area of star formation in the outer fringes of the galaxy M101.
This is a strange phenomenon - in normal galaxies, new stars are formed mainly near their centers, and not at the edges. The astronomers believe that the cause of the strange phenomenon is a collision that happened not long ago, reports UniverseToday.
M101 is a spiral galaxy in the Big Dipper group, and it is about 24 million light-years away. Its diameter is 170 light years and its mass is roughly twice that of the Milky Way.
In such a galaxy, one would expect to see regions of star formation near the center and along the spiral arms, but in this image taken by Akari, the astronomers discovered huge regions of new star formation right near the edge of the galaxy - the bright bubbles in the image.
This galaxy is not alone. Astronomers have known for some time that M101 collided with another galaxy not long ago, tearing off huge amounts of gas due to its enormous gravity. This gas is now colliding with the gas in the outer part of M101, starting the process of star formation.
The astronomers directed Akari towards nearby galaxies and they hope that the study of these galaxies will make it possible to solve the riddle and answer the open questions.
