At the Heart of Blobs

Spitzer_ssc2005-03b_1024

spitzer_ssc2005-03b January 11th, 2005

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt (SSC)

This artist's concept illustrates one possible answer to the puzzle of the "giant galactic blobs." These blobs (red), first identified about five years ago, are mammoth clouds of intensely glowing material that surround distant galaxies (white). Astronomers using visible-light telescopes can see the glow of the blobs, but they didn't know what provides the energy to light them up. NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope set its infrared eyes on one well-known blob located 11 billion light-years away, and discovered three tremendously bright galaxies, each shining with the light of more than one trillion Suns, headed toward each other.

Spitzer also observed three other blobs in the same galactic neighborhood and found equally bright galaxies within them. One of these blobs is also known to contain galaxies merging together. The findings suggest that galactic mergers might be the mysterious source of blobs.

If so, then one explanation for how mergers produce such large clouds of material is that they trigger intense bursts of star formation. This star formation would lead to exploding massive stars, or supernovae, which would then shoot gases outward in a phenomenon known as superwinds. Blobs produced in this fashion are illustrated in this artist's concept.

Provider: Spitzer Space Telescope

Image Source: http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/1391-ssc2005-03b-At-the-Heart-of-Blobs

Curator: Spitzer Space Telescope, Pasadena, CA, USA

Image Use Policy: http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/info/18-Image-Use-Policy

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Image Details

Image Type
Artwork
Subject - General
Galaxy > Type > Interacting
Galaxy > Grouping > Cluster
Spitzer_ssc2005-03b_1280
×
ID
ssc2005-03b
Subject Category
E.5.1.7.   E.5.5.3.  
Subject Name
Credits
NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt (SSC)
Release Date
2005-01-11
Lightyears
Redshift
Reference Url
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/1391-ssc2005-03b-At-the-Heart-of-Blobs
Type
Artwork
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Instrument
Color Assignment
Band
Bandpass
Central Wavelength
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
Equinox
Reference Value
Reference Dimension
Reference Pixel
Scale
Rotation
Coordinate System Projection:
Quality
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
Spitzer Space Telescope
URL
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu
Name
Spitzer Space Telescope
Email
Telephone
Address
1200 E. California Blvd.
City
Pasadena
State/Province
CA
Postal Code
91125
Country
USA
Rights
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/info/18-Image-Use-Policy
Publisher
Spitzer Science Center
Publisher ID
spitzer
Resource ID
ssc2005-03b.tif
Metadata Date
2012-03-23
Metadata Version
1.1
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