Meet the Indian priest-scientist who recently discovered that Milky Way had a 'sibling' galaxy

[Judi Lynn]

In an interview with Scroll.in, Richard D’Souza explains the significance of the findings he and Eric Bell made at the University of Michigan.

3 hours ago
Soumya Rao

A recent intergalactic discovery making headlines across the world has an Indian connection. Earlier this week, it was widely reported that scientists Richard D’Souza and Eric Bell of the University of Michigan had deduced that the Milky Way once had a sibling, which was devoured by the neighbouring galaxy of Andromeda about two billion years ago.

The findings were published in the Nature Astronomy journal on July 23 and have grabbed attention for their potential to change our understanding of how galaxies merge and evolve over time.

When two galaxies are drawn together by gravitational pull, they stand the risk of colliding. In such an event, the larger one usually subsumes the smaller entity. Andromeda, the largest galaxy of the Local Group of which Milky Way is also a part, was long believed to have gobbled up several small galaxies over the years. Using computer simulations, D’Souza and Bell deduced that one of the galaxies that Andromeda merged with was in fact a massive one, the third-largest in the Local Group after the Milky Way.

The researchers have proposed that the stars of this shredded galaxy ended up surrounding Andromeda, giving it its outer faint stellar halo, and its intriguing satellite galaxy, M32. Scientists have for long being trying to decipher how M32 was formed, as it is a rare compact elliptical galaxy (unlike the Milky Way, which is spiral) that is rich with stars. The new findings propose that the undestroyed core of the cannibalised galaxy went on to form M32.

More:
https://scroll.in/article/888185/meet-the-indian-priest-scientist-who-recently-discovered-that-milky-way-had-a-sibling-galaxy

[tblue37]

1. K&R and thanks! nt

[gademocrat7]

2. Thank you, for sharing this article.