The strange-sounding name offers new insight into galaxy formation.
Many of the developments shared by astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope and similar instruments are focused on trying to understand the history of the galaxy. The latest update from Webb telescope researchers confirms the existence of a phenomenon called “bulging fossil fragments” that could provide new insights on the formation of the galaxy.
The subject of this latest investigation is known as Terzon 5, a region at the center of the galaxy often called the “bulge” that has been challenging for astronomers to study due to the density of stars and the presence of dust. Between their observations with the Webb telescope and archival observations taken from the Hubble Space Telescope, the team was able to confirm that Terzan 5 is not a globular star cluster, as it was previously classified. Globular star clusters usually contain only one ancient star population. Instead, Terzon 5 has experienced at least four distinct stages of star formation. According to the researchers’ survey, it contains two older star populations that formed 12.5 billion and 4.7 billion years ago. Astronomers also found two more contemporary populations that formed 3.8 billion years ago and 2.5 billion years ago.
The principal inventor of Web observation is Professor Francesco R. of the University of Bologna. “For some reason, this unique group of stars formed separately from the bulge and did not annihilate as the bulge did,” said Ferraro. “Terzan 5 is what we now call a bulge fossil fragment because it resembles the primordial clusters that contributed to the formation of the bulge.”
“Based on observations and intensive simulations, we think that galaxies in the early universe had giant disks of gas that split into clusters and formed stars. These clusters moved to the center of the galaxies, and many merged to form their bulges,” said co-author Barbara Lanzoni, associate professor at the University of Bologna.
The findings were published in the journal astronomy and astrophysics.
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