Elliptical Galaxy, Cannibalism and the Secret of Youth All Have One Thing in Common

According to Mark Crockett, from the University of Oxford, along with his team's observations of an elliptical galaxy known as NGC 4150, this galaxy has kept it's youth through cannibalism! Well at least the merging and absorption of smaller nearby galaxies to put it under less shocking terms.

Elliptical Galaxies get their name from having a similar shape and structure to an egg. Crockett has been observing NGC 4150 through NASA's Hubble Space Telescope peering into the core of the galaxy. This is where Crockett and his team documented observations of groups of young blue stars with-in the core forming a ring approximately 1,300 light years in diameter. If that seems like a rather large area, that's because it's around 85 million times the distance from Earth to our sun!

Before this discovery astronomers had theorized that galaxies were incapable of forming new stars, believing stars were formed billions of years ago. Mark Crockett quotes "We are finding evidence of star birth in many elliptical galaxies, fueled mostly by cannibalizing smaller galaxies." This combining of galaxies has led this team of astronomers to conclude that NGC 4150 retains it's youth through the merging with smaller surrounding galaxies. Could this bring new light to the field of Astronomy and break ground for the development of new astronomical research? I would imagine so!

These images were taken by the Hubble Space Scope on October 30th and November 9, 2009 and just made public knowledge November 18, 2010. (The News release number can be found embedded in the right hand corner in the black border of the first picture). The images were taken in visible and near-ultraviolet light with Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3. The ultra-violet light serves the purpose of outlining the young stars with their glow. The large-scale photo depicts NGC 4150 in a typical elliptical galaxy style, while the inset shows the activity of the cannibalized younger galaxy. The "blue" you see in the inset image is the "birth" of new stars with-in the core of the ancient galaxy, resulted from the infusion of gases and other matter consumed by the merger of NGC 4150 Galaxy and another about 20 times smaller than it's self.

You can find downloadable, PDF formats in printable version files designed to fit letter-sized paper. There are also more images available in Jpeg format in 3 various sizes for your viewing pleasure. The complete story and other facts are available as well.

In honor of these observations credit is due to the following: NASA, ESA, R.M. Crockett (University of Oxford, U.K.), S. Kaviraj (Imperial College London and University of Oxford, U.K.), J. Silk (University of Oxford), M. Mutchler (Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore), R. O'Connell (University of Virginia, Charlottesville), and the WFC3 Scientific Oversight Committee.