Science Something in the universe is killing off entire galaxies

Something in the universe is killing off entire galaxies

Galaxies are being killed off in some of the most extreme regions of the universe and scientists are trying to work out how this happens. The cause of death is thought to be a shutdown of star form…

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Something in the universe is killing off entire galaxies

archived 26 Sep 2019 03:23:05 UTC

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Galaxies are being killed off in some of the most extreme regions of the universe and scientists are trying to work out how this happens.

The cause of death is thought to be a shutdown of star formation, and a new project aims to use one of the world’s leading telescopes to observe the process in detail.


The Canadian-led project is called the Virgo Environment Traced in Carbon Monoxide survey (VERTICO).

It will investigate how galaxies can be killed off by their own environment.

Principal investigator Toby Brown explained in The Conversation that he is leading a team of 30 experts who will be using the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) telescope to map stars being made in our nearest galaxy cluster, the Virgo Cluster.

The Virgo Cluster contains up to 2,000 galaxies.

The team will map molecular hydrogen gas in the galaxies because this is the fuel used to make stars.

Shutterstock
ALMA is actually made up of 66 radio telescopes in the Chilean desert and is said to be ideal for studying clouds of dense gas that form new stars.

Galaxy environments and how they dictate the life and death of galaxies are shrouded in mystery.

However, scientists do know that galaxy clusters like the Virgo Cluster are one of the most extreme environments in the universe.

They are known for huge gravitational forces, super-high speeds and extreme temperatures.

This can make the center of some galaxies inhospitable and other galaxies that come into contact with the areas can be killed off.

The VERTICO project aims to observe how this happens.

A violent process called ram pressure stripping can remove gas from a galaxy that falls through clusters.

When all the gas for forming stars is removed a galaxy is essentially a dead object.

Some galaxy cluster environments can also stop gases cooling in a galaxy and starve it of new star formation.

The scientists taking part in the project want to piece together already known facts like this to get a clearer image of the impact of galaxy clusters and the exact processes that trigger the death of star formation and galaxy demise.

 

[Kari Kamiya]

Remember when the Anti-Spiral and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann were throwing galaxies at each other? Well Super Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann can warp reality. Guess we're just now finally starting to see it with our own mortal eyes.

 

[Zbk3VmLfujjzjxBd43tL]

It's obviously Space Jews. Why people keep leaving them out of the polls is beyond me.

I don't remember the Ferengi doing that in Star Trek, damn, they really stepped up their game.

 

[Christ Cried]

Not trying to be a dick to OP personally, but I wish to highlight something that I have an issue with that most people do. This "article" is not only not a secondary source, it is hardly a tertiary source. An actual source on this topic would be a research paper. The vast majority of people read only a tertiary or secondary scientific source, slightly more read the abstract, and an almost nonexistent fraction read the actual paper.

 

[Shoggoth]

My money is on the Tyranids om-nom-noming the galaxies

 

[Grinrow]

The Warp is coming online ahead of schedule.

Does that mean psykers will be real soon? God I hope autism is a sign of being a psyker

 

[LegoTugboat]

Are we sure it's not the Mayans, just that their space death clock was 7 years off?

 

[Grinrow]

Are we sure it's not the Mayans, just that their space death clock was 7 years off?

We can only hope

 

[Pope Negro Joe the XIIIth]

HE KNOWS YOU ARE THERE. IS TOO LATE. HE IS COMING. HE IS COMING. HE HEARD YOU.

If what I've been worshipping heard me, I'm going to be fine. The rest of you, it's Degrassi and all you niggas getting Draked.

 

[SiccDicc]

Well, guess I can add "our galaxy randomly dying" to my list of irrational fears.

 

[Otis Boi]

God i hope our galaxy doesn't have to deal with the prethoryn scourge i hate those fuckers.

 

[Smarty Pants]

Well, guess I can add "our galaxy randomly dying" to my list of irrational fears.

I think some gay shit happens to their suns and the galaxy sort of explodes. Pretty sure scientists have been warning about that sort of thing happening here for years.

 

[Positron]

Not trying to be a dick to OP personally, but I wish to highlight something that I have an issue with that most people do. This "article" is not only not a secondary source, it is hardly a tertiary source. An actual source on this topic would be a research paper. The vast majority of people read only a tertiary or secondary scientific source, slightly more read the abstract, and an almost nonexistent fraction read the actual paper.

I can't find the paper on this VERTICO project, probably because they haven't got any results and therefore cannot published anything yet.
The closest I found is this article by the project leader.

 

[TheBlackVolga]

Galaxies are being killed off in some of the most extreme regions of the universe and scientists are trying to work out how this happens.

They were misgendered by terf stars.

 

[Barnard]

Why do they only write one short sentence per paragraph?

 

[Krimjob]

I fucking told you the Reapers were coming. Now we're all gonna be food for our new overlords.

 

[Spoonge]

inb4 all the ayy refugees start flooding into our galaxy and ruining our real estate prices. Build that fucking space wall Trump.

 

[Foolish Samurai Warrior]

Oh shit, are the Flood finally destroying other galaxies?

 

[HumanHive]

Interesting, but bait headline. We don't live in a region that's the gravitational equivilant to an autoclave, and we're in fact due to get a fresh supply of gas when Milky Way and Andromeda merge. You may as well worry about the Sun getting eaten by a supermassive black hole. None around, so no danger. We should just relax and watch all those alien civilizations die out in a slowly freezing dark galaxy from a safe distance. God save their poor xeno souls.

 

[Yotsubaaa]

I can't find the paper on this VERTICO project, probably because they haven't got any results and therefore cannot published anything yet.
The closest I found is this article by the project leader.

Yep, that'd be my guess. They seem to have just gotten approval for their VERTIGO program from the National Radio Astronomy Observatory last week:

First Canadian ALMA Large Program to Investigate the Impact of Galaxy Environment on Star Formation - National Radio Astronomy Observatory

The first ever Canadian-led Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) Large Program has been approved for cycle 7. Dr. Brown and his colleagues will use the Atacama Compact Array (ACA) to study the influence of galaxy environment on star formation in the Virgo Cluster.

public.nrao.edu

Will probably be a little while before we see any published findings.

 

[Tim Buckley]

God I Wish That Were Me