extragalactic nebula are broadly separate intothree groups . You have the spirals like the Milky Way and Andromeda , the unorthodox galaxies , and the elliptical beetleweed . This latter group incline to have the most massive and unremarkably most aged universe of star . The melodic theme is that these ovate Galax urceolata get at their final shape through collisions across the ages of the universe . This is what will happen to Andromeda and the Milky Way when theymergein several billion years . But novel watching suggest that maybe some elliptical galaxies have been spherical from the clip of the ancient world .
researcher look at galaxy duringcosmic midday , the menstruum when the universe experienced its peak of total star formation – that is , between 10 and 11 billion eld ago . The team used the Atacama Large Millimeter / submillimeter Array ( ALMA ) to study the 100 bright galaxy seeable in submillimeter Inner Light . They were forming stars when the cosmos was between 1.6 and 5.9 billion years old , from just before to just after cosmic noon .
These physical object are so bright because they are forming a lot of stars . They are undergoing a starburst episode ( or multiple 1 in speedy succession ) . They are big and bright and the perfect ancestors for the massive elliptical galaxy that we see in the local universe of discourse . While in the local universe most of the virtuoso formation comes from spiral and irregular galaxies , the squad found this was not the case back then .
Most of these Submillimeter Bright Galaxies ( SMGs ) are not disc - like – they are stocky spheric objects . The team used Modern statistical analysis proficiency to determine how their three - dimensional prima dispersion is potential to be based on their light , which they receive by measure the likely axis lengths of these objects . Disks should have one axis much shorter than the other , while elliptical galaxy are truly ball - forge . Most of the galaxies in the sample were like that .
So it looks like the biggest Galax urceolata in the modern universe were already spherical a long time ago . Their intense starburst phase is a symptom of what made them spherical . The accreting of cold intergalactic gas and their fundamental interaction with other galaxies are both expected to have play a role in shaping these objects , harmonise to theteam ’s models .
The team want to know more . With current observatories such as Euclid and JWST , as well as the upcoming China Space Station Telescope ( CSST ) , researchers hope to map the stellar distribution of these galaxies well . That will provide a clearer idea of on the button how the probable ancestors of thesupergiant elliptical galaxiescame to be .
The study is issue in the journalNature .
