Hubble Telescope makes intresting ancient observation

In the Tucana Dwarf galaxy, approximately 3.6 million light years away located at the far edge of our local group, The Hubble Space Telescope has made observations that researchers believe could contain traces of the young universe.

Using the ‘Advanced Camera for Surveys’ and the ‘Wide Field Planetry Camera 2’, Hubble has managed to capture billions of stars within the dwarf galaxy which due to the isolation of this galaxy and the minimal amunt of dust, are much clearer and appear much brighter conidering their low-luminosity due to their age which would dim them. Hence, this type of galaxy is called a ‘Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy’. "As a dwarf spheroidal galaxy, it is much smaller and less luminous than most other dwarf galaxies" NASA officials said in the statement. "Dust is sparse and the stellar population skews towards the older range, giving them a dimmer look."On the release of the new image taken by Hubble, NASA officials said that, Having such pristine properties enables scientists to use the Tucana Dwarf as a cosmic fossil.”

The galaxy is suspected to have receded to its secluded corner away from the Local Group’s center of mass due to a close encounter with the Andromeda Galaxy about 11 billion years ago, where the gravitational forces created would have flung the smaller galaxy further away.

By studying the stellar evolution, structure and composition of the Tucana Dwarf Galaxy it should help researchers understand the epoch of reionisation (The reionization of the universe was a phase in the history of the cosmos, marking the end of the "cosmic dark ages" and transforming the universe from a cold, dark state to the vibrant, luminous universe we observe today by electrically charging previously neutral particles.) NASA has commented that, “Dwarf galaxies could be the early ingredients for larger galaxies, and with older stars residing in such an isolated environment, analyzing them can help trace galaxy formation back to the dawn of time."

Image credit: NASA, ESA, C. Gallart (Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias), A. del Pino Molina (Centro de Estudios de Fisica del Cosmos de Aragon), and R. van der Marel (Space Telescope Science Institute); Image Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America))