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Astronomy

Galaxy formation in action

Nature volume 403, pages 841–843 (2000)Cite this article

Understanding galaxy formation is one of astronomy's great challenges. Detailed images from the Hubble Space Telescope show that galaxies frequently interacted in the past1, suggesting that interactions were important in creating the bright galaxies we see today2,3. The work by Braine et al.4 on page 867 of this issue provides important evidence that interactions continue to form new galaxies from recycled debris. If true, it would offer astronomers the exciting prospect of studying ‘up close’ a potentially important galaxy formation process.

Many dwarf galaxies have irregular shapes, contain lots of interstellar atomic hydrogen (H i) — the raw fuel for making stars — and exhibit unmistakable signs of recent star formation in the form of ionized hydrogen9. (This is hydrogen from which the electron has been removed, leaving behind the naked proton.) Clouds of ionized hydrogen are produced by ultraviolet radiation from hot, young stars (106–107 years old), the Orion Nebula in our Galaxy being a local example.

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Figure 1: Birthplace of dwarf galaxies?

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  1. Department of Astronomy and Physics, Saint Mary's University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 3C3, Canada

    Gary Welch

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Correspondence to Gary Welch.

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Welch, G. Galaxy formation in action. Nature 403, 841–843 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35002705

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