Because the new UV image of M83 was taken over a much longer exposure time than those other images of other galaxies, it reveals many more young star clusters than ever seen before in the outer limits of a galaxy. So M83 just makes the case more strongly than ever that remote star formation happens and may not even be rare. One possible explanation is that the stars forming so far away from the galactic disk are not being made of complex molecular gases at all. Instead, they are being built out of atomic gases -- old-fashioned hydrogen and helium atoms like those that somehow got together to make the universe's first stars. If so, they may be a great way to learn about the workings of the first stars and the workings of the early universe. To verify that there is, indeed, hydrogen in the far-reaching realms of M83, the researchers looked to the Very Large Array, which can detect the spectral signature of that element. They were rewarded with a perfect match. "The degree to which the ultraviolet emission and therefore the distribution of young stars follows the distribution of the atomic hydrogen gas out to the largest distances is absolutely remarkable," said Fabian Walter, another member of the discovery team and an astronomer at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Germany. All this from what was considered a very familiar galaxy located just 15 million light-years from Earth. "What's amazing is that this is a very well known galaxy," said Seibert. "We've been looking at it for years." Related Links: Larry O'Hanlon's blog: Earth Impacts |
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