Prague, Jan 14 (CTK) – Czech experts were in an international team that has helped highlight one of the development phases of the outer space by proving that radiation may leak from dwarf galaxies dubbed “green peas,” Ivana Orlitova has told CTK, confirming the information in the prestigious Nature journal.
Orlitova, from the Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences (AU AV), is one of the Czechs involved.
According to the latest issue of Nature, out on Wednesday, the Hubble telescope helped the scientific team discover ionising UV radiation that leaks from the “green peas” through the dense cloud layer that surrounds them.
The scientists thus probably discovered the energy source from the hitherto unknown phases of outer space development when the first stars and galaxies came into being. The dwarf galaxies are probably “responsible” for the transformation of the outer space in its early phase, Nature writes.
“We have proved that the radiation may leak from this type of galaxies. Our another step will be to ascertain how many of such galaxies exist,” Orlitova said.
Czech participation in the research was financed by the Czech Grant Agency.
“After the Big Bang (13.8 billion years ago), the space and its first structures cooled down as a result of expansion. Later, however, first stars appeared and the space started warming up again. After one billion years, hydrogen, the most widespread element of all, became ionised again, as it was in the wake of the Big Bang,” Orlitova said.
Astronomers long suspected galaxies to be behind the transformation, and the hypothesis has been confirmed now, she added.
The 12-tonne Hubble Telescope was launched into orbit in 1990 and it has contributed to a number astronomic discoveries. However, it is far from easy for scientists to gain access to it in the strong international competition, Orlitova said.
She said the Hubble Telescope is the only one that can monitor UV radiation. As a result, the rare observation time is granted only to the best projects that are mostly submitted by international teams.
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