{"id":43512,"date":"2023-03-29T08:25:05","date_gmt":"2023-03-29T08:25:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skyatnightmagazine.com\/?p=117505"},"modified":"2023-03-29T09:32:32","modified_gmt":"2023-03-29T09:32:32","slug":"sparkler-galaxy-hints-at-how-the-young-milky-way-may-have-looked","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/rss_feed\/sparkler-galaxy-hints-at-how-the-young-milky-way-may-have-looked\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Sparkler\u2019 galaxy hints at how the young Milky Way may have looked"},"content":{"rendered":"

Observations of a distant galaxy by the James Webb Space Telescope are revealing what our own Galaxy may have looked like in its infancy. <\/p>

By Ezzy Pearson\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 29 March 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

A younger version <\/span>of our own Milky Way, recently discovered by the James Webb Space Telescope<\/a>, could give a window into our own Galaxy\u2019s youth, as it is far enough away that we are seeing it as it was 9 billion years ago, when the Universe was only 4 billion years old.<\/p>\n

The galaxy<\/a> has been dubbed the Sparkler, due to the large number of globular clusters<\/a> and satellite galaxies surrounding it.<\/p>\n

Our own Milky Way has 200 such clusters.<\/p>\n

The Sparkler as we see it is only 3% the mass of our Galaxy today, but is expected to grow over time by merging with other galaxies.<\/p>\n

It is currently in the process of swallowing a dwarf galaxy.<\/p>\n

\"""\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
One of the Webb Telescope\u2019s first images was the Webb Deep Field, revealing a bedazzling array of distant galaxies. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

\u201cWe appear to be witnessing, first hand, the assembly of this galaxy as it builds up its mass \u2013 in the form of a dwarf galaxy and several globular clusters,\u201d says Duncan Forbes from Swinburne University of Technology<\/a> in Australia, who led the study.<\/p>\n

The distant galaxy is visible as its light has been magnified by gravitational lensing<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The team will now attempt to take a deeper image of the Sparkler, hoping to find more clusters and satellites around the galaxy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are excited by this unique opportunity to study both the formation of globular clusters and an infant Milky Way, at a time when the Universe was only a third of its present age.\u201d<\/p>\n

Find out more about this story at www.swinburne.edu.au\/news\/2023\/02\/distant-galaxy-mirrors-the-early-milky-way\/<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n

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