VICTORIA – A team of scientists led by a Canadian has found a oddly shaped galaxy that could shed new light on the composition and distribution of the cosmic "filaments" that link galaxy clusters and spread across the universe like a vast net.
Their work, to be published Wednesday in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, points to a new way of studying these mysterious filaments, believed to be among the biggest, gravitationally bound objects in the universe.
"It’s difficult to wrap your head around and it’s humbling . . . but really interesting," said Louise Edwards, 32, a Victoria-born post-doctoral researcher at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
Her specialty is "observational cosmology," which involves gathering data through optical, infrared and radio telescopes. She studies individual galaxies and the clusters they form.
Edwards and her research team used NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope to discover two massive islands of galaxies connected by a celestial "sandbar" or filament.
"Filaments are only in the last two or three years being observed," Edwards said. "We thought they existed in theory for a long time, but we’re now being able to see them."
The filaments are a subject of intense study because they seem to be key sites for star formation.
Inside one such filament, Edwards and her team discovered a galaxy that has a rare boomerang shape and unusual light emissions.
"It’s weird specifically because it’s in the filament," she said.
A vast stream of hot gas is believed to be bending the galaxy as it passes through the filament. Edwards noticed that lobes of material appear to be bent back and away from the galaxy’s trajectory through the filament.
Her team calculated the pressure exerted by the particles in the filament and then determined the density of the medium, using a method similar to looking at streamers on a kite to judge the wind strength and thickness of the air, a NASA press release on the discovery explains.
Edwards is thrilled that her research has turned up an exciting new find in space.
"Everything I look at is new. But it’s not a galaxy of the same type that other people have already found. It really is something in a location that nobody else has ever seen before."
Edwards is bursting with questions based on this discovery and she’s applying for time at telescopes around the world.
"It’s a springboard for two huge projects that can start on galaxy filaments," Edwards said.
She hopes one day to bring her research to a greater audience either through becoming a university professor or getting involved in education outreach.
Even though Edwards has access to some of the most technologically advanced telescopes, she still loves to look at the sky using a low-tech approach.
"My favourite thing to look at still is the moon through binoculars – it’s amazing," she said.
Victoria Times Colonist
smcculloch@timescolonist.com
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