ALMA telescope team managed to get a detailed image of a distant galaxy

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Specialists working with the ALMA telescope in the so-called “long base” mode were able to obtain a detailed image of a distant galaxy. At the same time, the galaxy is of the “gravitationally-lensed” type. In the photo you can see the star-forming regions close to this galaxy, with details that previously could not be obtained. According to scientists, the quality of images is much higher than those obtained by Hubble.

The observations in question were made during the Long Baseline Campaign program. As a result of the implementation of the program, scientists were able to obtain a large amount of information about both near and far space. For example, at the end of 2014, astronomers were able to observe the distant galaxy SDP.81 .

The light from this galaxy on its way to Earth was affected by the so-called gravitational lensing effect. The effect is that a massive galaxy, which appears on the line of sight between the Earth and a far galaxy, acts on the light of the latter as a lens. The result of such an impact is known as the “Einstein ring”. The results of observations on the ALMA telescope tested several groups of independent scientists. The result is the identification of a large amount of information about this galaxy, including its structure, dynamics, and so on.
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It is worth noting that ALMA works as an interferometer - the individual antennas of the telescope work synchronously, representing a single, very large virtual telescope. Therefore, the resolution of new images is 6 times higher than that of Hubble. As a result, scientists were able to identify a previously unobservable fine structure, dust clouds, which are the “storages” of cold molecular gas. Scientists suggest that such material is the original "building blocks" from which stars and planets are formed. In the observed galaxy, it was possible to distinguish star-forming regions of up to 100 light-years in size.

“The reconstructed image of a distant galaxy obtained at ALMA is staggering. The gigantic light-harvesting area of ​​the ALMA telescope, the large distance between its antennas and the stable atmosphere above the Atacama Desert — all these factors make it possible in the long run to obtain such incredible detail of images and spectra. The sensitivity of our observations is very high: we can even analyze the relative movements of individual parts of the observed galaxy. In galaxies located on the other side of the Universe, we can study the processes of their merging, we see how a huge number of stars are born there! ”, Said Rob Ivison, ESO scientific director and co-author of two articles written on this material.