Researchers find organic material in the Antennae Galaxies

A study led by the researcher of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) Ana Monreal Ibero proves the presence of probable organic molecules in galaxies beyond the Milky Way.

After carrying out a spectroscopic analysis with the MUSE instrument, on the VLT (Very Large Telescope), in the European Southern Observatory (Chile), a team led by astrophysicist Ana Monreal Ibero has proved the existence of diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) in the Antennae Galaxies, 70 million light years from Earth. The study shown that there is probably organic material in other galaxies beyond our galactic neighbourhood.

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Credit: Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias

Source / Image Courtesy

Antennae galaxies, located about 62 million light years from Earth, are shown in this composite image from the Chandra X-ray Observatory, the Hubble Space Telescope, and the Spitzer Space Telescope.

The collision began more than 100 million years ago and is going on. It has triggered the formation of millions of stars in clouds of dusts and gas in the galaxies.