Indian-origin scientist from NASA finds farthest group of galaxies
Indian-origin Goa-born scientist, Vithal Tilvi-led NASA team has discovered a never-seen-before group of galaxies, which is said to be the farthest to have ever been sighted. The international team of astronomers labelled the group galaxies as EGS77, which took over four years to be found. The group of galaxies is estimated to be over 13 billion light-years away from the Earth.
This is not the first time that Tilvi made an unprecedented discovery in the world of astronomy. In 2013, with his team, Tilvi discovered the farthest single galaxy ever sighted. In 2017, he led a team of astronomers that discovered the earliest black hole candidate in the Universe.
With this recent discovery of EGS77, astronomers will be able to find out about the chemicals that were present when the Universe was just born. On January 5, the team first time presented its findings of the discovery of EGS77 at the American Astronomical Society conference in Hawaii.
NASA took to its official Twitter handle to announce the discovery of EGS77 by sharing a video for a better understanding of where this group of galaxies is located.
Tilvi told TOI, "As we look farther and farther, we are looking back in time This is because, the starlight which carries information about the galaxy group, is reaching the Earth now, after traveling for 13 billion years."
The presence of neutral hydrogen fog in the Universe blocks some of the galaxies and other celestial bodies' light which makes it difficult to see them. Intense heat sometimes clears the surrounding hydrogen fog, allowing galaxy light to travel freely to the Earth and this must have happened in EGS77.
"The current telescopes we have, like the Hubble Space Telescope, were not meant to discover galaxies this far. But we are pushing the limits. In another one and a half years, James Webb Telescope will be launched, which is much bigger than Hubble Space Telescope, and our plan is to use this new telescope to see groups like EGS77," Tilvi said.
The discovery of EGS77 group of galaxies is significant as it is at the very edge of what can be observed in space from the earth using the current best technology on a platform like the Hubble Space Telescope.
Currently, the Goa-based scientist is the project leader for a NASA-funded project to study this black hole using observations taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. Tilvi is also part of the NASA's Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) team, which is going to be launched in 2025.
He is contributing to the State Higher Education Council of the government of Goa as a professor of research, development, and innovation.
ALSO READ | Indian-origin scientist creates 'Lemon' for better drugs
ALSO READ | Earth's Magnetic Field racing towards Siberia at unprecedented speed, scientists baffled
