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A rare, dazzling \u201ccosmic ribbon\u201d that adorns an entire galaxy has revealed itself with the help of an Australian telescope. The spectacular gaseous ring could unlock secrets of the elusive substance that underpins the structure of the universe \u2013 dark matter.<\/p>\n
The formation appears to be a polar ring galaxy, a dramatic structure that has a glowing fringe of hydrogen wrapped around the galaxy\u2019s main spiral.<\/p>\n
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The \u201ccosmic ribbon\u201d of a polar ring galaxy captured by the CSIRO\u2019s ASKAP radio telescope.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>J. English, N. Deg, the WALLABY team, CSIRO\/ASKAP radio telescope and NAOJ\/Subaru Telescope<\/cite><\/p>\n The CSIRO\u2019s ASKAP radio telescope on Wajarri Yamaji Country in Western Australia detected the ring encircling a galaxy 56 million light years away.<\/p>\n Astronomers discovered the formation while analysing early data from the WALLABY survey, an ambitious effort to scan half of the southern hemisphere for gas structures in hundreds of thousands of galaxies.<\/p>\n \u201cThe findings suggest that 1-3 per cent of nearby galaxies may have gaseous polar rings, which is much higher than suggested by optical telescopes,\u201d said Dr Nathan Deg, co-author of the research from Queen\u2019s University Canada.<\/p>\n The structures can form when two galaxies smash together, and the smaller galaxy becomes a gas-rich swirl rotating around the larger galaxy.<\/p>\n But the galaxy captured by ASKAP probably stole its shining ring by siphoning gas from a smaller neighbouring galaxy with its gravitational pull, CSIRO professor and co-author of the research B\u00e4rbel Koribalski said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe bigger galaxy is kind of bullying the neighbour, it\u2019s taking away the gas,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd depending on where they are in the sky and how they rotate, the gas might be created into a larger disc, or in this case, it formed a polar ring around the galaxy.\u201d<\/p>\n Squinting at images generated from the data, Koribalski said she spotted sparks of new stars forming from the rich hydrogen, like diamonds willing themselves into existence along a silver ring.<\/p>\n NASA\u2019s James Webb Space Telescope released an image of the ring nebula in historic detail last month.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>SA\/Webb, NASA, CSA, M. Barlow (UCL), N. Cox (ACRI-ST), R. Wesson (Cardiff University)<\/cite><\/p>\n But it\u2019s not just a visual spectacle \u2013 these cosmic rings could reveal precious information about dark matter, the enigmatic substance that makes up a third of the universe.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s kind of really embarrassing,\u201d Koribalski said. \u201cWe still don\u2019t know what dark matter is.<\/p>\n \u201cThe crucial bit here is why would such a ring be stable around the pole? Why aren\u2019t they inclined? Something is stablising them to sit around the pole: that\u2019s the halo of the galaxy. And most of the halo is made from dark matter.\u201d<\/p>\n Further analysis of these rings could shed crucial light on dark matter\u2019s structure, and the discoveries from the WALLABY survey have only just begun, Koribalski said.<\/p>\n The Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder\u00a0(ASKAP) radio telescope in Western Australia.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Alex Cherney<\/cite><\/p>\n \u201cASKAP is 36 telescopes spread over a six kilometre area, effectively forming a telescope six kilometres in diameter. You couldn\u2019t build a single telescope like that \u2013 it\u2019s very powerful and it has super-high resolution.<\/p>\n \u201cOur field of view has grown a hundredfold \u2013 the data flood has started. Every day, someone says, \u2018What is this, what is that, I\u2019ve never seen this before!\u2019 It\u2019s an incredibly exciting time.\u201d<\/p>\n The James Webb Space Telescope recently unveiled another cosmic structure in historic detail; the ring nebula.<\/p>\n The expanding shell of gas is an example of a planetary nebula and it occurs as a star thrusts out layers of glowing gas, at a speed of 20-30 kilometres per second, as it runs out of fuel towards the end of its life.<\/p>\n The new image offers a glimpse of the destiny of our own sun, which will begin to collapse after running out of nuclear fuel in about five billion years.<\/p>\n The Examine newsletter explains and analyses science with a rigorous focus on the evidence. <\/i><\/b>Sign up to get it each week<\/i><\/b>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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