The invisible light of the expanded plasma extends from the galaxy to 1.3 million light years
In a landmark study, scientists using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope mapped an enormous gas envelope called the halo that surrounds our nearest large galaxy, the Andromeda Galaxy. (NASA image)
(NASA) –In a landmark study, scientists using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope mapped an enormous gas envelope called the halo that surrounds our nearest large galaxy, the Andromeda Galaxy.
Scientists are amazed that this delicate, almost invisible stream of expanded plasma extends from the galaxy to 1.3 million light-years — up to half our Milky Way — and in some directions to 2 million light-years.
This means that the halo of Andromeda is already bursting into the halo of our own galaxy.
They found that the hollow had a layered structure, with two main clusters and distinct gas shells. This is the most comprehensive study of a halo around a galaxy.
Samantha Berek, a fellow researcher at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, explained. “It is important to understand the massive gases that surround galaxies.
“This gas reservoir will provide fuel for future galaxy formations in the galaxy, as well as coming out of events such as supernovae.
“We found the inner shell to be very complex and dynamic, stretching back half a million light years,” explained Nicholas Lehner, study leader at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.
“The outer shell is soft and warm. This difference affects the internal flow more directly due to the effect of supernova activity on the galactic disk. ”
The signature of this activity is the discovery of large amounts of massive elements in the airflow of Andromeda. Massive elements are cooked inside the stars and then emitted into space — sometimes violently when the star dies. Halo is then contaminated with this material from stellar explosions.
The Andromeda Galaxy, also known as M31, is probably the majestic spiral of 1 trillion stars and comparable to our Milky Way.
At a distance of 2.5 million light-years, the galaxy appears to be high in cigar-shaped light in the autumn sky.
If its airflow could be seen with the naked eye, it would be three times the width of the Big Dipper. This is the biggest feature of the night sky.
Through a program called Project AMIGA (Absorption Map of Ionized Gas in Andromeda), the study examined light from 43 quasars — the most distant, spectacular cores of active galaxies driven by black holes — beyond Andromeda.
Quasars are scattered behind the halo, allowing scientists to explore multiple areas. Looking through the halo at the quasars light, the team observed how this light is perceived by the Andromeda halo and how that absorption changes in different areas.
This illustration shows the location of the 43 quasars used by scientists to investigate the airflow of Andromeda. (NASA image)
The enormous Andromeda Hollow is made up of highly verified and ionized gas that does not emit easily detectable radiation. Therefore, absorbing light coming from a background source is a good way to investigate this material.
The Lehner team examined Andromeda’s halo beforehand. In 2015, they discovered that the Andromeda Hollow was large and massive. But there is little hint of its complexity; Now, it has been mapped in more detail, leading to a more accurate determination of its size and mass.
“Previously, the galaxy had very little information in just 1 million light-years — only six quasars.
“It is important to examine the gas in this radius, because it represents the sphere of gravity to Andromeda.”
Because we live inside the Milky Way, scientists cannot easily understand the signature of the halo of our own galaxy. However, they believe that the haloes of Andromeda and the Milky Way are very similar because these two galaxies are so similar.
The two galaxies are in a collision course and form a large elliptical galaxy beginning 4 billion years from now.
Scientists have studied the air currents of galaxies farther away, but those galaxies are so small in the sky that the number of background quasars bright enough to observe their flow is usually only one per galaxy.
Therefore spatial information is inevitably lost. Due to its proximity to Earth, Andromeda’s airflow is large in the sky, allowing for a much wider pattern.
“It’s really a unique experiment, because with Andromeda we have not only one or two scenes but more than 40 information on its flow,” Lehner explained. “It’s amazing to capture the complexity of the galaxy halo beyond our own Milky Way.”
In fact, Andromeda is the only galaxy in the universe, this experiment can be done now, and only with Hubble.
Only with the ultraviolet-sensitive future space telescope can scientists routinely carry out this type of experiment beyond the approximately 30 galaxies that make up the native cluster.
“So Project AMIGA gave us a glimpse into the future,” Lehner said.
The team’s results appear in the August 27 issue of The Astrophysical Journal.
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NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei — who died after being set on fire by her partner in Kenya — was received Friday by family and anti-femicide crusaders, ahead of her burial a day later.
Cheptegei’s family met with dozens of activists Friday who had marched to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s morgue in the western city of Eldoret while chanting anti-femicide slogans.
She is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in yet another case of gender-based violence in recent years.
Viola Cheptoo, the founder of Tirop Angels – an organization that was formed in honor of athlete Agnes Tirop, who was stabbed to death in 2021, said stakeholders need to ensure this is the last death of an athlete due to gender-based violence.
“We are here to say that enough is enough, we are tired of burying our sisters due to GBV,” she said.
It was a somber mood at the morgue as athletes and family members viewed Cheptegei’s body which sustained 80% of burns after she was doused with gasoline by her partner Dickson Ndiema. Ndiema sustained 30% burns on his body and later succumbed.
Ndiema and Cheptegei were said to have quarreled over a piece of land that the athlete bought in Kenya, according to a report filed by the local chief.
Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics less than a month before the attack. She finished in 44th place.
Cheptegei’s father, Joseph, said that the body will make a brief stop at their home in the Endebess area before proceeding to Bukwo in eastern Uganda for a night vigil and burial on Saturday.
“We are in the final part of giving my daughter the last respect,” a visibly distraught Joseph said.
He told reporters last week that Ndiema was stalking and threatening Cheptegei and the family had informed police.
Four in 10 women or an estimated 41% of dating or married Kenyan women have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their current or most recent partner, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rare Bronze-Era jar accidentally smashed by a 4-year-old visiting a museum was back on display Wednesday after restoration experts were able to carefully piece the artifact back together.
Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son tipped over the jar, which smashed into pieces.
Alex Geller, the boy’s father, said his son — the youngest of three — is exceptionally curious, and that the moment he heard the crash, “please let that not be my child” was the first thought that raced through his head.
The jar has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only containers of its size and from that period still complete when it was discovered.
The Bronze Age jar is one of many artifacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers, said Inbal Rivlin, the director of the museum, which is associated with Haifa University in northern Israel.
It was likely used to hold wine or oil, and dates back to between 2200 and 1500 B.C.
Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the moment, which captured international attention, into a teaching moment, inviting the Geller family back for a special visit and hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.
Rivlin added that the incident provided a welcome distraction from the ongoing war in Gaza. “Well, he’s just a kid. So I think that somehow it touches the heart of the people in Israel and around the world,“ said Rivlin.
Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs would be fairly simple, as the pieces were from a single, complete jar. Archaeologists often face the more daunting task of sifting through piles of shards from multiple objects and trying to piece them together.
Experts used 3D technology, hi-resolution videos, and special glue to painstakingly reconstruct the large jar.
Less than two weeks after it broke, the jar went back on display at the museum. The gluing process left small hairline cracks, and a few pieces are missing, but the jar’s impressive size remains.
The only noticeable difference in the exhibit was a new sign reading “please don’t touch.”
VICTORIA – The British Columbia government is partnering with a bear welfare group to reduce the number of bears being euthanized in the province.
Nicholas Scapillati, executive director of Grizzly Bear Foundation, said Monday that it comes after months-long discussions with the province on how to protect bears, with the goal to give the animals a “better and second chance at life in the wild.”
Scapillati said what’s exciting about the project is that the government is open to working with outside experts and the public.
“So, they’ll be working through Indigenous knowledge and scientific understanding, bringing in the latest techniques and training expertise from leading experts,” he said in an interview.
B.C. government data show conservation officers destroyed 603 black bears and 23 grizzly bears in 2023, while 154 black bears were killed by officers in the first six months of this year.
Scapillati said the group will publish a report with recommendations by next spring, while an independent oversight committee will be set up to review all bear encounters with conservation officers to provide advice to the government.
Environment Minister George Heyman said in a statement that they are looking for new ways to ensure conservation officers “have the trust of the communities they serve,” and the panel will make recommendations to enhance officer training and improve policies.
Lesley Fox, with the wildlife protection group The Fur-Bearers, said they’ve been calling for such a committee for decades.
“This move demonstrates the government is listening,” said Fox. “I suspect, because of the impending election, their listening skills are potentially a little sharper than they normally are.”
Fox said the partnership came from “a place of long frustration” as provincial conservation officers kill more than 500 black bears every year on average, and the public is “no longer tolerating this kind of approach.”
“I think that the conservation officer service and the B.C. government are aware they need to change, and certainly the public has been asking for it,” said Fox.
Fox said there’s a lot of optimism about the new partnership, but, as with any government, there will likely be a lot of red tape to get through.
“I think speed is going to be important, whether or not the committee has the ability to make change and make change relatively quickly without having to study an issue to death, ” said Fox.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.
