A team of international scientists has discovered what it terms as "the last drops of blood" of a dying galaxy that is 54 million light years away from Earth.
A trail of fireballs streaming thousands of light years behind a small galaxy known as IC 3418 managed to catch the attention of a team of international scientists. After a little investigation, the scientists found that the fireballs were being emitted because the galaxy that lies 54 million light years away from Earth was dying. Scientists called the fireballs "the last drops of blood" of the dying galaxy.
"We think we're witnessing a critical stage in the transformation of a gas-rich dwarf irregular galaxy into a gas-poor dwarf elliptical galaxy-the depletion of its lifeblood," said Jeffrey Kenney of Yale University, lead author of the yet-be-be published study in a press statement released this week at the 222nd meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Indianapolis. "Until now, there has been no clear example of this transformation happening."
Scientists have previously noted that during the life of a galaxy, it continuously produces generations and generations of countless stars. However, once the reservoir of gas within the galaxy is depleted, the galaxy slowly begins to die.
Scientists were able to find out that the IC 3418 had depleted its reservoir of gas and was in its dying process using the WIYN 3.5-meter telescope in Arizona and the twin Keck 10-meter telescopes in Hawaii.
So what caused this depletion?
Researchers from Yale University say that a process known as "ram pressure stripping" might be the cause of this depletion. Gases continuously mix in galaxies and when this happens, pressure starts to build up. Due to this intensive pressure, many a times, the gases of a galaxy are forced out and eject in the form of fireballs.
Kenney and his team hope that by studying the dying process of this dwarf elliptical galaxy, they will get a better understanding of such galaxies.
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