There are millions of distant galaxies that are blocked from view by the Magellanic Clouds and astronomers are now building a 3D map that may lead to new insights into how stars and galaxies evolve.
Astronomers Are Using Two Different Telescopes
Jessica Craig from Keele University in the UK, who started her Ph.D. in 2020, is now working with other astronomers who are using data from two different telescopes and one space observatory to make the 3D map. The way they find hidden galaxies is by looking at near-infrared images of the Magellanic Clouds taken by the VISTA (Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy) in Chillie.
The images are detailed enough to show distant galaxies peeking through gaps between the stars. The light from the galaxies has to travel through the dust that fills the Magellanic Clouds, acting like a filter to make the galaxies appear artificially faint and red in images.
To determine where a galaxy is in space, researchers must correct the light effects. This is where the second telescope comes in. Craig and her colleagues are using the observations of the dust made by the GASKAP-HI telescope in Australia.
Putting Up the Galaxies Map Together
To ensure that they’re not confusing light emanating from galaxies with the glow of closer stars, the researchers have to compare the color-corrected images with the observations from the Gaia space observatory.
Currently, Craig and her colleagues have completed the mapping process for the smaller of the Magellanic Clouds and hope to have the whole map completed within the next year.
Scientists believe that learning more about the galaxies close to the Magellanic Clouds could further our understanding of how galaxies evolve in general is important and some of the nearby galaxies may have originated when the two Magellanic Clouds interacted in the past.