Breaking News: Three Suns Seen in Chine

A myriad of brilliant, sparkling stars ignite with their raging, roiling fires the more than 100 billion galaxies that dwell in the observable Universe. Extremely luminous infrared galaxies (ELRGs) are some of the most dazzling members of the galactic zoo, and they shine with stellar flames which are about 100 to 1,000 times brighter in the infrared than a typical galaxy like our own large starlit, barred-spiral Galaxy, the Milky Way. Indeed, ELRGs are the most luminous galaxies known to dwell in the local Universe, and they radiate more than ninety percent of their light in the infrared. In May 2015, a team of astronomers announced that they have spotted a remote ELRG that shines with the incredible light of more than 300 trillion suns, using data derived from NASA's infrared eye in the sky, the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE)--and this newly discovered brilliant galaxy is the most luminous galaxy found to date.
"We are looking at a very intense phase of galaxy evolution. This dazzling light may be from the main growth spurt of the galaxy's black hole," explained Dr. Chao-Wei Tsai in a May 21, 2015 NASA Press Release. Dr. Tsai is of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, and he is the lead author of a new report appearing in the May 22, 2015 issue of The Astrophysical Journal.
Infrared emission flowing out from galaxies originates from three sources: interstellar gas, dust, and stars. The emission coming from stars peaks in the near infrared at 1-3 microns. A micron is short for micrometer or 0.000001 meters. The emissions emanating from atoms and molecules in interstellar gas composes only a few percent of the infrared output of galaxies. The primary origin of infrared radiation beyond 3 microns is thermal emission coming from dust grains heated by fierce, fiery starlight.
The most brilliant galaxies are usually those that contain the greatest amount of dust, and this dust usually comes from star-birthing regions. Astronomers using the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) spotted an incredible 20,000 galaxies shining in the infrared. A large number of these galaxies were starburst galaxies, which are galaxies that are giving birth to an enormous number of new, fiery baby stars--and for this reason, they are especially bright in the infrared. Additional infrared studies of these galaxies may well find the cause for this star-birthing frenzy. IRAS was the very first space-based observatory to perform a survey of the entire sky at infrared wavelengths. A joint project of NASA, the Netherlands (NIVR), and the United Kingdom (SERC), IRAS was launched on January 25, 1983 on a successful mission that lasted 10 months.
There are also times when galaxies, each hosting billions of glittering stars, collide with each other. These galactic wrecks set off rounds of star birth within these disrupted galaxies by causing blobs embedded within billowing cold, dark molecular clouds of gas and dust to compress to the point that they collapse as a result of the merciless squeeze of their own gravity. Because of a high rate of star-birth, colliding gas-rich galaxies radiate very powerfully in the infrared.



Breaking News: Three Suns Seen in Chine by JahazVId