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Newly Discovered Young Galaxy Creates 4,000 Stars Per Year
Astronomers using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope have found a galaxy producing an average of up to 4,000 stars per year. They contrast this with the Milky Way, which only produces an average of 10 each year. Nicknamed "Baby Boom," it is a young starburst galaxy, and its stellar birth rate conflicts with a commonly accepted model for the growth of a galaxy. Quoting:
"'The question now is whether the majority of the very most massive galaxies form very early in the universe like the Baby Boom galaxy, or whether this is an exceptional case. Answering this question will help us determine to what degree the Hierarchical Model of galaxy formation still holds true,' [said Peter Capak of NASA's Spitzer Science Center] 'The incredible star-formation activity we have observed suggests that we may be witnessing, for the first time, the formation of one of the most massive elliptical galaxies in the universe,' said co-author Nick Scoville of Caltech, the principal investigator of the Cosmic Evolution Survey,
Older galaxies are outsourcing their star production needs to this one.
That's faster than American Idol!
Have gnu, will travel.
Oh great, now the universe is using the "up to" con on us. We expect 4000 stars, it delivers 1000, but we have to grin and bear it because of the Terms of Service we agreed to by being born... same old story.