Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Earth-like planets could be born early galaxies in the universe

After reviewing the data from the Hubble telescope and the VLT, the scientists concluded that the proportion of elements heavier than hydrogen and helium inside one of the first galaxies in the universe is sufficient for the formation of rocky terrestrial planets.

According to the head of the research group Johan Finbo of the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen, the stars in the test early galaxies contain a lot of oxygen, which would be enough for the formation of about 11 billion years ago the planets similar to Earth.

The study galaktina rampolozhena for the constellation of Aquarius at a distance of about 11.5 billion light years. The light from her travels to the Earth almost refracted. For the study the researchers used a shining quasar SDSS J 2222-0946, located in the constellation of Aquarius. Also, the researchers were able to explore a range of stars to calculate their approximate weight and size of the galaxy itself.

In the study, astronomers noticed that the spectrum of light present fairly strong lines of absorption and emission characteristic of the iron ions. Apparently, stars in this "star metropolis" contained a quite a lot of iron, about one-third of similar value for the Sun.

Based on the theory that iron and other elements in space produce supernova explosions, which is approximately 11 billion years ago the universe could have formed planets similar to Earth, the scientists conclude.



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