Dark matter key ingredient for making galaxies
A team of scientists led by a Sussex astronomer has discovered the perfect recipe for galaxy formation, a forthcoming journal paper reveals.
Using the European Space Agency’s Herschel Space Observatory to study distant objects with the Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver (SPIRE) camera, researchers have found that it takes dark matter equivalent to 300 billion Suns to give rise to a galaxy bursting with stars.
The data from Herschel - the world’s largest space telescope - and SPIRE is helping to produce a map of the Universe as it was around eight billion years ago. The map project, HerMES (Herschel Multi-tiered Extragalactic Survey), is led by Professor Seb Oliver at Sussex. He said: "I find it amazing that with these results we are able to understand the link between mass and star formation.
"Particularly when the mass can never be seen, the star formation is shrouded in dust and invisible to normal telescopes, and only 15% of the dust emission can be resolved into individual galaxies - heroic work!"
The team used Herschel to measure infrared light from massive, star-forming galaxies in the distant Universe. The most distant galaxies are so far away that Herschel cannot see them individually but rather creates a detailed map of light formation. The researchers say that this ’big picture’ approach allowed them to more easily spot patterns and measure the influence of dark matter.
Dr David Parker, Director of Space Science and Exploration at the UK Space Agency said: "Once again, the Herschel team have pushed the boundaries and brought us another step closer to understanding the complex creation and evolution of our Universe.
"As always, we’re immensely proud of the outstanding work of our UK scientists who are playing key roles in this world-leading space project."
For more information about HerMES, go to the Sussex website.
