(ORDO NEWS) — Astronomers have discovered a giant stellar tail emanating from the dwarf galaxy F8D1. The presence of a tail indicates that it recently collided with another galaxy.
The researchers used the Subaru and Canada-France-Hawaii telescopes. They saw a stellar tail extending 200,000 light-years from the F8D1 galaxy.
This galaxy is part of the M81 group, located at a distance of 12 million light-years from us, on the border between the constellations Ursa Major and Giraffe.
F8D1 is one of the closest examples of an ultra diffuse galaxy (UDG). The origin of these enigmatic galaxies has puzzled astronomers for decades: Are they born this way, or is some later event causing them to grow in size?
The discovery of F8D1’s huge tidal tail is strong evidence that the formation of the galaxy was influenced by events over the past billion years.
This is the first time such a stellar stream has been detected at the UDG. The team suggests that F8D1 was affected by the recent close passage of the massive spiral M81, the dominant member of the F8D1-containing group.
Since F8D1 is at the edge of the field of view, only one tidal branch can be seen extending to the northeast. Astronomers will now be looking to see if there is a similar stream to the southwest.
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