Space relic discovered. Object 'frozen in time' for billions of years

The latest discovery is the result of the work of a team of astronomers from Italy's National Institute of Astrophysics (INAF). The "fossil" galaxy was discovered thanks to the high-resolution imaging capabilities of the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT), located on Mount Graham in Arizona. The study's findings appear in the July issue of Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society .

Galaxy 'frozen in time' discovered?

Cosmic discoveries continually surprise, raising new questions about the universe's past. Thanks to the growing technological capabilities of modern telescopes, a particularly intriguing object has recently become a target of astronomers.

The galaxy KiDS J0842+0059 was first discovered in 2018. The observations were made using Chile's VLT Survey Telescope (VST). Initial data on the object suggested that the galaxy hosted very old stars. However, they could not confirm that the object was a so-called cosmic relic. As the study authors explain, "Relics are massive, compact, and dormant galaxies that accumulated most of their stars in the early universe and survived intact until today, completely avoiding later growth due to mergers and interactions."

New information about the object was provided by the latest images taken by the Large Binocular Telescope in Arizona.

What is known about the space relic?

The galaxy KiDS J0842+0059 is located approximately 3 billion light-years from Earth. This makes it the first galaxy of its kind that astronomers have observed outside the so-called local universe (a distance of approximately 1 billion light-years from Earth). The study's authors estimate that the discovered galaxy has a mass approximately 100 billion times greater than the Sun. At the same time, it is an extremely compact object compared to celestial bodies of similar mass. According to the researchers, the object did not form stars for most of its existence. Astronomers estimate that the discovered galaxy remained unchanged, "dormant," for approximately 7 billion years.

The latest images also revealed similarities between the galaxy KiDS J0842+0059 and NGC 1277, a dwarf galaxy located in the Perseus Cluster (about 240 million light-years from Earth). NGC 1277 was chosen as a reference point due to its characteristics as the "most extreme local relic."

How are galactic relics created?

The formation process of these objects is the subject of research and various hypotheses. Astronomers believe that the development of the most massive galaxies can be divided into two basic phases. The first is a period of rapid activity, which includes star formation. The second phase is a cycle of dynamic interactions between neighboring galaxies, changing their shape, mass, and number of stars. Study co-author Chiara Spiniello from the University of Oxford explains that galactic "relics" almost completely bypass the second phase of development. Over 75% of their mass is generated in the first phase, followed by a very long period of stagnation.

To read the record of the universe "in its beginning"

The study's authors hope the discovery will help us understand what the early universe looked like and how it functioned. Researchers consider galaxies with characteristics similar to KiDS J0842+0059 to be "space frozen in time." In this case, we're talking about at least several billion years old, ancient cosmic bodies that have survived almost unchanged. Astrophysics professor Michele Cappellari (not involved in the study) emphasized the discovery's significance on CNN Science. According to the expert, these cosmic relics "as living fossils, escaped the chaotic mergers and growth events experienced by most other massive galaxies. Studying them allows us to reconstruct the conditions of the universe at its earliest days and understand the initial bursts of star formation."