Oxygen molecules were traced to a strange and distant galaxy, remote for millions of light years. Scientists first found oxygen outside the Milky Way. It was discovered in Markaryan 231, which is powered by an “extremely bright” core. The results of the study were published in the Astrophysical Journal. If you are interested in astronomy, this article will be of interest to you.
Mysterious galaxy
Markarian 231 is a wild and very volatile galaxy that we still know very little about. But the mysterious galaxy now seems to support the existence of oxygen, increasing our understanding of the distant Universe.
“After deep observation of Markaryan 231, we first discovered the emission of oxygen in an external galaxy, ” wrote researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The detected oxygen radiation is located in areas that are approximately 32, 610 light years from the center of Markaryan 231. “This can occur from the interaction of the active galactic nucleus, which is controlled by external outflow, and external molecular clouds, ” the study notes.
What became known about the mysterious galaxy?
Markarian 231 is a particularly active galaxy forming new stars at a speed of more than 100 masses per year. It is powered by a central quasar - a very bright galactic core.
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This is when a supermassive black hole with a mass ranging from millions to billions of solar masses is surrounded by a gas disk. This type of galactic center produces an outflow of matter.
Researchers continued to observe the oxygen inside these streams. They used a 30-meter radio telescope to observe the galaxy in Spain for four days. Oxygen was previously found in the Orion nebula, within our own galaxy.
But scientists found that the abundance of oxygen of Markaryan 231 is 100 times higher than in the Orion galaxy. Now other teams of scientists will work to test the results as evidence of oxygen.
If this is confirmed, we can learn much more about how galaxies like Markarian 231. exist. Does the discovery of oxygen mean that we have found evidence of another life? Time will tell.
