Globular Clusters May Hold Clues About How This Galaxy Evolved, Researchers Say

Astronomers discovered a previously unknown number of potential globular clusters that may be identified and utilized as "fossil proof" of the galaxy's turbulent history.

Centaurus A, situated 13 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Centaurus, is the sixth brightest galaxy in the sky. The galaxy is also known as NGC 5128. A relativistic jet erupting from its center, a supermassive black hole.

Scientists from the University of Arizona's Department of Astronomy and Steward Observatory have discovered a hoard of previously undiscovered globular clusters in Centaurus A's constellation. According to TechExplorist, the team used a mix of ground and space-based observatories to conduct a study that resulted in a new catalog of 40,502 globular cluster (GC) candidates in the elliptical galaxy Centaurus A's outer regions.

Centaurus A: Will It Solve Mystery of Globular Clusters?

Centaurus A has long been a target for globular cluster searchers because to its abundance and proximity to Earth. Still, the galaxy's other regions have remained mostly unexplored-until now. Nearly half a million light-years from the galaxy's core, 40,000 globular clusters were discovered.

In a statement, researchers said Centaurus A underwent multiple large mergers with other galaxies, resulting in its glob-like appearance with river-like parts with considerably more stars than the surrounding areas.

Centaurus A, the nearest example of an elliptical galaxy, allows scientists to investigate a substantially different galaxy from our own up close.

Both the Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy, the Milky Way's nearest neighbor, are spiral galaxies. Spiral galaxies may appear to be the "typical" galaxy because of their famous pinwheel-like form. Yet, their less ordered elliptical relatives outweigh them in the cosmos.

Researchers explained Centaurus A may appear to be a strange outlier, but that's only because they can get near enough to observe its nitty-gritty characteristics. They added that globular clusters are proof of processes that occurred a long time ago.

In the interstellar medium, concentrated regions of gas produce star clusters. Although globular clusters may be found in almost every galaxy, including the Milky Way, which contains roughly 150, most stars are not grouped in such groupings.

Researchers said astronomers may learn a lot about the galaxy that hosts globular clusters by studying them. They can learn about the galaxy's mass, history of interactions with surrounding galaxies, and even the distribution of dark matter.

Globular Clusters Explained

Globular clusters are densely packed, symmetrical groups of stars that circle most spiral galaxies in their vast stellar halos. Globular clusters are assumed to have originated early in the galaxy's history since they include some of the galaxy's earliest stars. Could it be that a spiral galaxy like our Milky Way was once an amorphous cloud of gas and dust when it was initially forming? Could the universe's initial stars have become globular clusters? Could these clusters have remained in the halo surrounding a galaxy's core as the remainder of the spinning galaxy flattened out and produced spiral arms? This theory would explain why globular clusters, which orbit in the halo of a galaxy and contain its earliest stars, exist.

However, no one knows for sure how globular clusters evolved or what role they had in the evolution of galaxies. But EarthSky said globular clusters are the oldest, biggest, and most massive star clusters and the oldest stars. Their age is shown by the virtually total absence of metals, or elements heavier than hydrogen and helium, which were present in the early cosmos before the birth of stars and galaxies. Space.com said the youngest 150 clusters inside the Milky Way are less than 8 billion years old, while the oldest is almost 12 billion years old.

Why Globular Clusters Are Important

Globular clusters may be found in almost every galaxy. They reveal information about the galaxy in which they reside, including prior mergers and collisions with neighboring galaxies. According to Forbes, globular clusters are intriguing because they may be utilized as tracers of structures and processes in other galaxies where individual stars are difficult to resolve.

These clusters retain chemical traces, such as the elemental makeup of their respective principals, which provide information on the environment in which they evolved. Because stars from the same globular cluster travel in space together, they must have come from the same dwarf galaxy collided with the current study's massive galaxy.

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