Astronomers have found a powerful stream of gas that was hidden from observation

According to the study's authors, the cold flow of intergalactic atomic carbon dioxide is so

massive, which can fuel galaxy formationfor 500 million years. The data obtained confirm theoretical cosmological models and also shed light on the origin of the processes and materials that are responsible for the formation of galaxies and stars.

Researchers led by Dr. BjornEmonts, an associate scientist at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, used the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to map the atomic carbon gas surrounding galaxy 4C 41.17.

4C 41.17 is a large radio galaxy from the early Universe. This means the researchers had to maximize the radio telescope's sensitivity to surface brightness using ALMA's most compact, low-resolution configuration.

The emission of carbon atoms in the flow is highlighted in blue. Photo: Emonts (NRAO/AUI/NSF) 

According to the astronomers who published the results.study in the journal Science, it was this low-resolution configuration that likely helped reveal the cold molecular flow that had been hidden and gone undetected in previous studies. New observations have revealed a narrow stream of cold gas extending at least 100 kiloparsecs (~326,000 light years) beyond the galaxy and into intergalactic space. It is several times larger than the galaxy it apparently feeds.

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On the cover: rings around the galaxy
Credit: Spitzer Space Telescope - Caltech