Peekaboo is one of just three comparatively nearby galaxies that astronomers have found to be extremely metal-poor-and at 22 million light-years away, it's by far the closest, making it favorable for further study.Īstronomers first spotted a hint of the Peekaboo galaxy in 2001 during an all-sky survey, but the glare of a closer star largely obscured it from additional scrutiny. As stars age, they create heavier elements, including metals. “Pretty much every galaxy in the nearby universe has very, very old stars dating back to shortly after the big bang,” says Gagandeep Anand, an astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute and co-author of the new study. The new measurements suggest the dwarf galaxy may have formed billions of years after the big bang-much later than other galaxies close to ours. In results published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, scientists report that Peekaboo appears to have a significant lack of old stars. But it's not just the galaxy's relatively recent appearance that has astronomers excited. Aptly named “Peekaboo,” the galaxy moved from behind a bright star (from our perspective) only within the past 50 to 100 years.
A galaxy that is just emerging from hiding may be one of the youngest ever discovered, offering a potential portal to the secrets of the early universe.
0 kommentar(er)
