Assam: Tezpur University researchers spot formation of dwarf galaxy. Will help understand galaxy formation for the first time  

As per an article by a research scholar of Tezpur University, it is stated that a first-of-its-kind study has found new stars forming beyond the visible boundaries — about 1.5 to 3.9 billion light years away — from Earth. The research scholar — Anshuman Borgohain — was a member of the team of astronomers from India, the USA and France, which conducted the study. Additionally, he is also the lead author of the article, as stated in a report by PTI. 

The research article was published in the multidisciplinary Science journal, Nature, this month. And it stated, "It is still unclear how dwarf galaxies of the past have evolved into the ones in the present day. Hence, capturing their assembly process over the cosmic ages is considered as one of the important links to complete the picture of galaxy formation and evolution," it added.

Principal research staff in the USA's IBM research division, who also took part in the study, Bruce Elmegreen said that it has been a mystery how some small galaxies like these can have such active star formation. Borgohain works under the joint supervision of Rupjyoti Gogoi of Tezpur University and Prof Kanak Saha of Pune-based Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, who are co-authors of the article.

The release by Tezpur University said that the study was conceived using the Ultra Violet Imaging Telescope (UVIT) onboard AstroSat, India's first dedicated multi-wavelength space observatory.

Further, sharing some more details, Prof Kanak Saha said that the resolving power of the UVIT and UV deep field imaging techniques have been the key to finding these very young, faint and large star-forming clumps. Adding to this, Rupjyoti Gogoi said that the current work is an inspiration for young researchers of the country as this utilises data from India's indigenous satellite AstroSat. 

Sharing his view, the university Vice-Chancellor, Vinod K Jain, said, "The discovery of such unseen phenomena in these distant dwarf galaxies is just another piece of the puzzle and a glimpse of the unknown that new state-of-the-art observatories are starting to show and have to offer in near future."