A new type of celestial bodies known as “platypus galaxies” is baffling scientists with its unique characteristics.
Thes nine enigmatic objects, discovered in archived data from the James Webb Space Telescope, cannot be easily classified based on their features. Despite being small and compact, thay do not seem to contain active supermassive black holes or exhibit quasar-like behavior, according to recent research.
The team of astronomers, led by Haojing Yan from the University of Missouri, has given these peculiar cosmic objects the nickname “platypus galaxies”, drawing a comparison to the rare egg-laying mammals due to their difficulty in classification. Yan presented their findings at the 247th meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Phoenix this week.
“The genetic makeup of a platypus provides additional insight into just how unique this animal is, sharing genetic traits with birds, reptiles, and mammals,” Yan explained in a statement about the research, which can be found as a preprint on arXiv. “Together, the imaging and spectra from Webb are revealing that these galaxies possess an unexpected combination of features.”
The team likens studying these galaxies to observing a platypus. ”You would think that these characteristics should not coexist, but there it is right in front of you, undeniable,” yan said.
As a notable example, typical quasars – extremely luminous and energetic objects – have emission lines in their spectra that resemble hills. the spectra also indicate rapid gas movement around a supermassive black hole at the center.
In contrast, the nine newly discovered galaxies have narrow and sharp spectra indicating slower gas movement. While some galaxies with similar spectral features do contain supermassive black holes, unlike those objects these new galaxies do not appear as distinct points in images.
So if these mysterious objects are not quasars and do not contain supermassive black holes, what could they be? One possibility is that they represent a new type of star-forming galaxy that existed in the early universe, which is exactly what JWST was designed to observe.
However,even this description leaves the team puzzled. Co-investigator Bangzheng Sun, a graduate student at the University of Missouri, expressed their confusion in the same statement.
“based on our low-resolution spectra, we cannot rule out the possibility that these nine objects are star-forming galaxies,” Sun said. ”The data supports this theory. The strange thing is that these galaxies are so small and compact despite JWST’s ability to capture detailed images at such great distances.”
If this is indeed what JWST has discovered, yan suggests there may be more to learn about how galaxies evolved.
“I believe this new research raises an crucial question: how does galaxy formation begin?” yan pondered. ”Is it possible for such small building-block galaxies to form quietly before chaotic mergers occur as their point-like appearance suggests?”
The team plans to continue their research with more samples of similar galaxies. Fortunately,JWST still has many years left in its mission after launching in 2021 and will continue observing distant objects in the early universe for at least another 15 years from its position deep in space.
Wow, this could change everything we thought we knew about galaxies!