>>> A TEAM OF ASTRONOMERS, INCLUDING SOME FROM UMASS
AMHERST, HAVE DISCOVERED TRACES OF A HUGE GALAXY NEVER
SEEN BEFORE.
UMASS ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF ASTRONOMY KATE
WHITAKER AND POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW CHRISTINA WILLIAMS AT
THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA, BOTH UMASS GRADS, WORKED
TOGETHER ON THE PROJECT.
CAROLEE MCGRATH SAT DOWN WITH WHITAKER TO LEARN MORE ABOUT
THE DISCOVERY AND WHAT IT ALL M. >> THIS IS ACTUALLY ACCIDENTAL
DISCOVERY, SO WE HAD THIS PROGRAM WITH THE ARRAY,
TOTALLY DIFFERENT SCIENCE CASE.
SO WE WERE LOOKING AT THE DATA AND HAPPENED TO NOTICE THIS
FUZZY BLOB ESSENTIALLY NEARBY, AND SO THIS IS AN INCREDIBLY
WELL-STUDIED FIELD, THERE'S A HUGE AMOUNT OF DATA THAT
EXISTS, WE LOOKED IN ALL OF THE OTHER DATA, THIS INCLUDES
DATA FROM THE HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE, FROM ALL WAVE
LENGTHS OF LIGHT AND COULDN'T SEE IT ANYWHERE.
SO THIS SORT OF MADE US CATCH OUR HEADS AND SAY WHAT IS
THIS, AND WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
WHAT HAVE WE FOUND HERE.
SOUTH GOT MORE AND MORE INTERESTING AS WE WENT ALONG,
FIGURING OUT OKAY, WHAT ARE WE LOOKING AT, IS IT AN ACCIDENT,
AN ARTIFACT, IS IT ACTUALLY SOMETHING WE ARE OBSERVING.
IT TURNS OUT WHAT WE DISCOVERED WAS AN INCREDIBLY
MASSIVE GALAXY, THIS GALAXY HAS 100 BILLION STARS IN IT.
IT'S THE SIZE OF THE MILKY WAY.
WE ARE SEEING IT 12 BILLION YEARS.
>> THAT'S HARD FOR PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND.
YOU'RE JUST SEEING IT IN PRIOR, I GUESS, OBSERVATIONS,
IT WASN'T THERE AND NOW YOU'RE SEEING IT.
>> SO IT'S NOT THAT IT JUST CAME INTO EXISTENCE.
SO THE OTHER OBSERVATIONS WE HAD, WE ARE LOOKING AT
DIFFERENT PARTS -- WE ARE LOOKING AT LIGHT WITH
DIFFERENT ENERGY.
SO THE REASON WE DIDN'T SEE IT IN THE OTHER DATA THAT WE HAVE
IS THERE'S TWO REASONS, ONE, IT'S INCREDIBLY DISTANCE FROM
US, BECAUSE IT'S BEEN -- THE LIGHT HAS BEEN TRAVELING FOR
12 HALF BILLION YEARS, THE UNIVERSE WAS ONLY OVER A
BILLION YEARS OLD WHEN IT WAS EMITTED, IT'S INCREDIBLY
DISTANT IN THE UNIVERSE, IT'S A TODDLER IN THE GALAXY, IF
YOU WILL, A MASSIVE TODDLER, BUT ALSO VERY DUSTY.
SO IF YOU COMBINE THOSE TWO THINGS TOGETHER, ESSENTIALLY
IT'S HIDDEN FROM OUR VIEW.
SO IT'S NOT TO SAY IT DOESN'T EXIST, WE CAN'T SEE LIGHT AT
ANY OF THE OTHER WAVELENGTHS, WE ONLY SEE IT AT THE VERY
LONGEST WAVELENGTHS BECAUSE IT'S SO DUSTY AND BECAUSE IT'S
SO DISTANT.
>> HOW MANY GALAXIES ARE THERE?
>> SO THAT'S AN INTERESTING QUESTION.
I DON'T HAVE AN EXACT ANSWER, OTHER THAN TO SAY, TRILLIONS,
THERE'S TRILLIONS OF GALAXIES IN THE UNIVERSE, THIS ONE IS
REALLY INTERESTING BECAUSE IT FITS IN POSSIBLY IN A VERY --
A MISSING PIECE, SOMETHING WE HAVE BEEN TRYING TO SEARCH FOR
AND HAVEN'T YET BEEN REALLY SUCCESSFUL FINDING IN MASS.
WHAT WE -- IT ANSWERS POSSIBLY A CLUE TO HOW GALAXIES
EVOLVE.
SOME GALAXIES FORM LOTS AND LOTS OF STARS VERY EARLY IN
THE UNIVERSE AND SOMETHING HAPPENS TO SHUT THEM OFF.
WE ARE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT IT IS THAT HAPPENS AND
WHY, AND THIS GALAXY IN PARTICULAR MIGHT BE THE --
MIGHT EXPLAIN THAT TRANSITION AND WE MIGHT BE CATCHING IT AT
A PHASE WHERE IT'S OTHERWISE TOTALLY HIDDEN, WE ARE SEE THE
TIP AND IT MAKES YOU WONDER ARE THERE OTHERS LIKE THIS.
>> YOU HAD MENTIONED THIS IS SORT OF AN ACCIDENTAL
DISCOVERY, WHAT WAS YOUR REACTION WHEN YOU REALIZED
WHAT YOU CAME ACROSS?
>> PROBABLY ANTS ANTICLIMACTIC, PROBABLY NOT
REAL.
AND I SHOULD MENTION, YOU KNOW, THIS IS REALLY SOMETHING
THAT IS LED BY A FORMER U-MASS Ph.D. STUDENT, DR.
CHRISTINA WILLIAMS, SHE'S NOW A
POST-DOCTORAL FELLOW AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA, SHE'S
THE ONE WHO REALLY DISCOVERED AND SAW THIS FUZZY BLOB.
>> TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE RADIO TELESCOPES THAT WERE
USED IN SOUTH AMERICA, IN CHILE?
>> SO OLD MA IS NOW, IN TERMS OF RADIO TELESCOPES, REALLY
CHANGING THE FIELD, I GUESS, IF YOU WILL, BECAUSE IT HAS
SUCH HIGH -- SO SENSITIVE OF A TELESCOPE AND HAS SUCH HIGH
SPATIAL RESOLUTION, YOU CAN REALLY DO NEW SCIENCE WITH
IT.
SO THAT'S WHY ORIGINALLY WE CALLED THIS ANNUL IN A ONLY
GALAXY, BECAUSE IT'S REALLY ONLY ULNA THAT CAN DISCOVER
IT.
WITH OUR BEST DATA THAT EXISTS, BEST DECADES OF
EFFORT, WE STILL WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN ABLE TO SEE IT.
>> WHAT'S NEXT IN THE RESEARCH, LUCONTINUE TO LOOK
AT THIS WITH ULNA OR IS THERE OTHER TECH NOTHING THAT WILL
BE USED?
>> I'M PARTICULARLY EXCITED ABOUT NASA'S NEXT FLAGSHIP
MISSION, AND I THINK FOR THIS PARTICULAR GALAXY, IT WOULD BE
REALLY INTERESTING TO TAKE THE JAMES WEBB SPACE TELESCOPE AND
POINT TO THIS OBJECT AND SEE WHAT WE CAN LEARN.
JAMES WEBB SPACE TELESCOPE IS -- IT'S AN INFRARED, IT'S
OPTICALLIZED, KIND OF LIKE OUR EYES SEE AND ARE SENSITIVE TO
THE COLORS OF THE RAINBOW, FOR EXAMPLE AND A LITTLE BIT INTO
THE NEAR INFRARED FOR HUBBLE.
JAMES WEBB IS MORE TAKING THAT AND EXTENDING TO LONGER
WAVELENGTHS.
HUBBLE IS ORBITING IN LOW EARTH ORBIT, IT'S NOT TOO FAR
FROM US, WE HAVE HAD A LOT OF SURFACING MISSIONS TO GO AND
FIX IT AND HELP IT, THAT'S WHY IT'S LASTED ALMOST 30 YEARS,
JAMES WEBB, INSTEAD, IS GOING TO BE LAUNCHED SOMEWHERE WE
CAN'T GO TO, LAUNCHED TO THE SECOND POINT, AND IT'S GOING
TO REVOLUTIONIZE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE EARLY
UNIVERSE.