Canada Journal – News of the World Articles and videos to bring you the biggest Canadian news stories from across the country every day
One of our galactic neighbors, the tiny Segue 1, could be among the first galaxies ever to take shape—and it may present an opportunity for scientists to examine our universe as an infant.
Segue 1’s chemical composition suggests it stopped evolving some 13 billion years ago, Scientific American reports; in fact, researchers say, it’s the “least chemically evolved galaxy known.” Stars contain heavier and heavier elements with each generation, but the stars in Segue 1 have hardly any heavy stuff—they’re made mostly of just hydrogen and helium.
The unusual size of Segue 1 is also helping shed light on galaxy formation and evolution. It appears it underwent a rapid bout of growth then stopped and astronomers are debating as to how this could have happened.
While it is possible it was once a much larger body but was stripped of its metal-rich stars by the neighbouring Milky Way some believe it was actually formed this small. This is something not though possible before and could mean there are be more galaxies like Segue 1 hiding in space.
Agencies/Canadajournal
