Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Cosmology

Infrared light from wandering stars

An explanation has been proposed for the observed excess of cosmic light at infrared wavelengths. It invokes stars that are cast into the dark-matter haloes of their parent galaxies during powerful galaxy collisions. See Letter p.514

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Galaxy collision.

M. LIVIO/HUBBLE HERITAGE TEAM (STSCI/AURA)/ESA/NASA

References

  1. Matsumoto, T. et al. in ISO Surveys of a Dusty Universe Vol. 548 (eds Lemke, D., Stickel, M. & Wilke, K.) (Springer, 2000).

    Google Scholar 

  2. Salvaterra, R. & Ferrara, A. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 339, 973–982 (2003).

    Article  CAS  ADS  Google Scholar 

  3. Santos, M. R., Bromm, V. & Kamionkowski, M. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 336, 1082–1092 (2002).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  4. Madau, P. & Silk, J. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 359, L37–L41 (2005).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  5. Kashlinsky, A. Astrophys. J. 633, L5–L8 (2005).

    Article  CAS  ADS  Google Scholar 

  6. Fernandez, E. R. & Komatsu, E. Astrophys. J. 646, 703–718 (2006).

    Article  CAS  ADS  Google Scholar 

  7. Cooray, A. et al. Nature 490, 514–516 (2012).

    Article  CAS  ADS  Google Scholar 

  8. Greif, T. H. et al. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 424, 399–415 (2012).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  9. Bouwens, R. J. et al. Astrophys. J. 752, L5 (2012).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  10. McLure, R. J. et al. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 418, 2074–2105 (2011).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  11. Mitra, S., Choudhury, T. R. & Ferrara, A. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 419, 1480–1488 (2012).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  12. Finkelstein, S. L. et al. Preprint at http://arXiv.org/abs/1206.0735 (2012).

  13. Kashlinsky, A., Arendt, R. G., Mather, J. & Moseley, S. H. Nature 438, 45–50 (2005).

    Article  CAS  ADS  Google Scholar 

  14. Kashlinsky, A. et al. Astrophys. J. 753, 63 (2012).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  15. Matsumoto, T. et al. Astrophys. J. 742, 124 (2011).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  16. Helgason, K., Ricotti, M. & Kashlinsky, A. Astrophys. J. 752, 113 (2012).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  17. Salvaterra, R. & Ferrara, A. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 367, L11–L15 (2006).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  18. Cooray, A. et al. Preprint at http://arXiv.org/abs/1205.2316 (2012).

  19. Fernandez, E. R., Iliev, I. T., Komatsu, E. & Shapiro, P. R. Astrophys. J. 750, 20 (2012).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  20. Yue, B., Ferrara, A., Salvaterra, R. & Chen, X. Preprint at http://arXiv.org/abs/1208.6234 (2012).

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andrea Ferrara.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Ferrara, A. Infrared light from wandering stars. Nature 490, 494–495 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/490494a

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/490494a

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing