A Massive Amount Of Previously Unknown Galaxies Discovered By Scientists
This is INCREDIBLE!
These Images Are Incredible
People say a lot of denigrating things about social media, but one bright spot amid all the garbage online is NASA's various accounts on Instagram and Twitter. To see the images that they're able to capture of galaxies beyond our comprehension is truly incredible.
Also incredible is the fact that scientists have discovered a ton of previously hidden galaxies that may contain the answers to many of life's biggest questions.
The Key To Many Huge Questions
Dr Tao Wang, from the University of Tokyo, explained to the Independent:
"This is the first time that such a large population of massive galaxies was confirmed during the first two billion years of the 13.7-billion-year life of the universe."
Basically, this is a huge deal.
Previously Invisible
Dr. Wang continued, explaining why it's taken so long to discover these ancient galaxies.
"These were previously invisible to us. This finding contravenes current models for that period of cosmic evolution and will help to add some details, which have been missing until now.
"For one thing, the night sky would appear far more majestic. The greater density of stars means there would be many more stars close by appearing larger and brighter."
"But conversely, the large amount of dust means farther-away stars would be far less visible, so the background to these bright close stars might be a vast dark void."
Difficulty Convincing
While this is a truly incredible discovery, Dr. Wand said that it did take quite a bit of convincing to get other experts in the field onboard.
"It was tough to convince our peers these galaxies were as old as we suspected them to be.
"Our initial suspicions about their existence came from the Spitzer Space Telescope's infrared data.
"But ALMA has sharp eyes and revealed details at submillimeter wavelengths, the best wavelength to peer through dust present in the early universe.
"Even so, it took further data from the imaginatively named Very Large Telescope in Chile to really prove we were seeing ancient massive galaxies where none had been seen before."
Anyone else feeling very, very small right now?
