Tuesday, February 14, 2023 04:20 am
Our galaxy is one of the oldest galaxies in the universe, regarding 13.8 billion years old.
It also hosts regarding 200 globular clusters, which are dense groups of stars.
In contrast, the Sparkler galaxy contains only 3% of the mass of the Milky Way and only 24 globular clusters.
But this small galaxy is growing as it devours satellite galaxies and nearby globular clusters, and it is expected that it will eventually grow to match the mass of the Milky Way.
“It appears that we are witnessing firsthand, the assembly of this galaxy as it builds up its mass – in the form of a dwarf galaxy and several globular clusters,” lead author Duncan Forbes of Australia’s Swinburne University said in a statement. “We are excited regarding this opportunity to study both the formation of globular clusters, and the Milky Way, at a time when the universe was only a third of its current age.”
Sparkler is so far away that its light will take billions of years to reach us.
The researchers were able to get a better look at it using a technique called gravitational lensing, which means they see it as it was regarding 9 billion years ago.
Source: Technology News: The James Webb Telescope caught a glimpse of a modern version of the Milky Way
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