Extreme Star Formation Reveals a Fleeting Phase of Galactic Evolution

Astronomers have spotted a galaxy that is igniting new stars faster than ever seen before. Measurements from several instruments show that gas in this galaxy is condensing to form stars close to the maximum rate thought possible. Infrared light pours from the galaxy, just a tiny red dot in this wide-angle view of the sky captured by WISE. Image credit: NASA "What is unique about this particular galaxy is that it is forming stars so rapidly with such a tiny supply of gas," said Aleksandar Diamond-Stanic, a fellow at the University of California's Southern California Center for Galaxy Evolution who helped make the discovery. A team of nine astrophysicists recently reported the finding in Astrophysical Journal Letters. The team of astronomers estimated the amount of gas in the galaxy using the IRAM Plateau de Bure Interferometer, a telescope in the French Alps that detects a light signal associated with hydrogen gas, the fuel of stars. Images from the Hubble Space Telescope show gas concentrated in a zone just a few hundred light years across, yet that gas is condensing and igniting new stars at a rate hundreds of times that of our own Milky Way galaxy.