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Telegraph

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If this exception to the rule will be widespread, ideas about the development of the Universe will have to change.

An international team of astronomers, using instruments of the European southern Observatory (Chile) have been able to observe the formation of new stars outside of the galactic disk. Studying the collision of two galaxies bearing a common identifier LEDA 70861 and located 600 million light years away, scientists have discovered enormous outflows of matter, starting at the centers of the two galaxies, and then saw the unmistakable signs pointing to the birth of new stars in these streams.

According to preliminary data, the power flows can reach 15 solar masses per year. Scientists, in principle, conceded that conditions in them may be suitable for star formation, but did not expect to obtain direct evidence so quickly . “Our results are exciting, because they clearly show that stars are born inside these outflows,” says the head of the research group of Professor Roberto Maiolino (Cambridge, UK).

The successes achieved were the result of using two instruments from the Arsenal of the European Observatory in Paranal (Chile). With the help of the MUSE spectrographs and X-shooter, the researchers examined how the stars directly in the outgoing flows, and the gas which surrounds them, and the emitted light. As is known, the radiation of young newly formed stars encourages nearby gas clouds lit in a special way. The high sensitivity of X-shooter allowed the team to rule out other possible causes for this glow, like the influence of the galactic nucleus. After that, attempts were made to direct detection star “babies” in the outgoing from the center of the galaxy thread that has proved successful.

These stars, apparently no more than a few tens of millions of years. They are warmer and brighter than stars born in less extreme conditions, like existing within the galactic disk. As further evidence, the researchers also measured the speed of these stars travels from the center of the galaxy.

The work carried out gives us new information that can improve our understanding of some aspects of astrophysics, such as the receipt of galaxies their shapes, enriching interstellar space with heavy elements, and now even the occurrence of seemingly unexplained fluctuations in the infrared background radiation.