Looking for clue about the other population is often like the proverbial phonograph needle - in - a - rick , but once in a while uranologist are able to blemish objects that can open up new door into the distant past .
This is the case of AGC 198691 , a small racy galax located 30 million light - years forth in the constellation of Leo Minor . The object has the smallest fraction of hard elements – referred to as metals in astronomy – ever seen in a beetleweed , indicating that its material has n’t changed much since the Big Bang . A newspaper draw the discovery was publish in theAstrophysical Journal .
" Finding the most alloy - poor coltsfoot ever is exciting since it could aid contribute to a quantitative trial run of the Big Bang , " Professor John J. Salzer , of Indiana University and elderly generator of the paper , said in astatement . " There are relatively few ways to explore stipulation at the giving birth of the existence , but miserable - metal galaxies are among the most promising . "
The metals like carbon copy , atomic number 8 , and so on are produced by lead and propagate throughout interstellar space by supernova . AGC 198691 has just 1.3 percent the metallicity of the Sun , a sign that very little star geological formation has happened since its geological formation .
Without much " contamination , " the composition of the galaxy , which has been nicknamed Leoncino ( Italian for " little lion " ) , can be used to liken whether the call copiousness of primeval hydrogen and helium matches with the observance .
Leoncino ’s uniqueness does n’t stop at its low-toned metallicity . The Galax urceolata is a " midget , " about 1,000 unclouded - twelvemonth across and made of a few million stars . An average system like the whitish Way is about 100 time wide and contains between 200 and 400 billion hotshot . Although Leoncino has some recently formed whizz , responsible for its blue color , the coltsfoot has the lowest brightness level ever observed for this variety of object .
" We ’re eager to continue to explore this mystifying galaxy , " added Salzer . " Low - metal - abundance extragalactic nebula are extremely rarefied , so we want to find out everything we can . "
The team is pursue follow - up reflexion with several instruments , admit the Hubble Space Telescope . A estimable understating of these galaxies will lay the base for the possible detection of even more metal - pitiable objects by the next coevals of lookout .
