You live on Earth. Earth is part of the planet’s lunar system and is part of the larger solar system. The solar system revolves around a single star in the Milky Way galaxy. The Milky Way is home to at least 100 billion stars and possibly as many as 400 billion … and it’s just one galaxy. right Now, In a new research paper, A team of astronomers announced the discovery of 44 completely new galaxies, each containing countless stars, planets, moons and you. Wait, not you, but everything else before that.
The researchers used data from a variety of sources to search for previously undiscovered galaxies hiding in a region of space called the Fornax Cluster. The Fornax Cluster is a group of galaxies some 65 million light years from Earth and has been a great source of galaxy discoveries in the past. In this case, data from several surveys and observational campaigns have been used to reveal the existence of 44 new galaxies, but it is not the same as the Milky Way.
There are many different types of galaxies in the universe. Spiral galaxies like ours are only one type, and each different galaxy can come in different sizes. These new galaxies are what are known as UCDs, or super-small dwarf galaxies. As their name suggests, these galaxies are extremely compact and are only 200 light-years across. In comparison, the Milky Way is thought to be about 100,000 light-years in diameter, which gives or takes a few lifetimes.
Since it is smaller in size, it also contains fewer stars. It is estimated that UCDs contain approximately 100 million stars, however, once again, this is only a very rough estimate. These “small” galaxies are a relatively recent discovery by scientists, as the first UCD galaxies were classified less than two decades ago. They are also slightly more difficult to detect than their larger and more impressive counterparts, which is why they may have been hiding in data that had already been studied.
After searching for available information, the research team had 220 potential UCD candidates. That’s a lot, so scientists decided to focus their efforts on the things that are most likely to be UCD. They ended up with 44 galaxies, possibly a new yet to be documented galaxy, located near the margin of the greater mass. The researchers say the new galaxies are located more than 1,170 light-years from the cluster core, which could make detection more difficult in previous research efforts.
“With the Fornax Deep Survey’s visual depths, combined with general near-infrared data, we revisit UCD from the Fornax group and search for UCD candidates, for the first time, systematically, to the viral radius of the galaxy gathering,” The researchers explain.
About 65 million light-years away from Earth, the fact that we know these galaxies exist is impressive. Unfortunately, it will be some time before we have the technology to learn more about it or what it contains.
Mike Weiner has provided a report on technology and video games over the past decade, covering breaking news and trends in virtual reality, wearables, smartphones, and future technology. Most recently, Mike has worked as a technical editor for The Daily Dot, appearing on USA Today, Time.com, and countless other web outlets and publications. His love of reporting is second only to his addiction to games.
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