A team of Indian astronomers working at the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA), Pune, have discovered a giant and extremely rare radio galaxy. The team used the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) to spot the galaxy with an extent of a whopping 4 million light years.
The rare galaxy was caught in its dying phase about 9 billion light years away. The galaxy was spotted in the direction of the constellation Cetus, emitting strong radio waves, from one end to another.
Owing to their large ‘radio size’, such galaxies are termed ‘radio galaxies’. Scientists have argued that the presence of a super massive black hole at the center of the galaxy must be fueling the large radio lobes which have been spotted. These lobes are the result of large-scale hot plasma jets being sent out in opposite direction by the giant black hole at the center.
Radio galaxies measuring a million light years or less are common. But giant radio galaxies, like the one spotted by Indian astronomers in Pune, are very rare. Only a handful such radio galaxies have been discovered so far.
The device which helped spot this rare galaxy, the GMRT, is the world’s largest radio telescope facility. It includes 30 antennas spread over a 30 km radius near Narayangaon in Pune. Each of these antennas measure 45 metre in diameter.
(Featured Image Credit: jb.man.ac.uk)
