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"China Sky Eye" found that the largest atomic gas in the universe so far is 20 times larger than the Milky Way
Scientists recently used the "China Sky Eye" FAST to image and observe the hydrogen atom gas in the dense galaxy group "Stephen's Five Galaxies" and the surrounding sky region, and discovered a huge atomic gas structure with a scale of about 2 million light-years, which is larger than the Milky Way. 20 times larger. This is the largest atomic gas structure ever detected in the universe.
The research was completed by an international team led by Xu Cong, a researcher at the National Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the relevant results were published online in the international academic journal Nature on the 19th.
"This discovery benefits from the unprecedented ability to detect extremely dark and weak objects brought about by the ultra-high sensitivity of the 'China Sky Eye." Xu Cong said that the "China Sky Eye" can detect the faint radiation emitted by the extremely thin diffuse atomic gas far from the center of the galaxy, opening a new window for studying the origin of celestial bodies in the universe.
According to reports, the origin of all celestial bodies in the universe is inseparable from atomic gas. For example, the main evolution process of galaxies is the process of continuously absorbing atomic gas from cosmic space and then converting it into stars. The observation of gas in the universe is a very important research topic in the field of astrophysics.
Since its discovery in 1877, the Stephen's five galaxies have been the most popular group of galaxies in astronomy. This latest discovery shows that there is a large-scale low-density atomic gas structure in the outer space far from the center of the galaxy group. The formation of these gas structures is likely related to the history of intergalactic interactions during the early formation of the "Stephen's Five", which has existed for about 1 billion years.
"This discovery poses a challenge to the study of the evolution of galaxies and their gases in the universe, because it is difficult for existing theories to explain why these thin atomic gases have not been ionized by the ultraviolet background radiation in space for such a long time." Xu Cong said that this observation result also indicates that there may be more such large-scale low-density atomic gas structures in the universe.
Source: Xinhua
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