Many galaxies are deemed as active galaxies, wherein they have so much gases where stars can form. There galaxies though that are called passive galaxies, which have much fewer gases that could help stars form. There is one passive galaxy that has much hydrogen in it, which might redefine what it means to be a passive galaxy.
Passive galaxies are also called anemic galaxies since they have fewer gases. Galaxies have gases in them from which stars would later be formed. Passive galaxies then have fewer stars unlike active galaxies.
The passive galaxy that has been found is called GASS 3505. It has been found through the GALEX Arecibo SDSS Survey (GASS), which has been made to find galaxies that have much atomic hydrogen. Astronomer Sean Moran and his colleagues have selected this galaxy for study. Further study was done using the Jansky Very Large Array.
While GASS 3505 is very rich with atomic hydrogen, the galaxy has a very inefficient way of forming stars, according to Phys Org. This is because of the cold gas forming a ring around the galaxy. This ring is said to be about 160,000 light years in diameter.
Scientists speculate that galaxies early in the life of the universe was like this. Galaxies then were much smaller, and the cold process of star formation might have been how the first galaxies evolved. Now there are much more active galaxies with a large number of stars, unlike those of passive galaxies.
Computer simulations have been made as well in order to know how GASS 3505 works, as the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory's site reports. The galaxy would be studied further using new radio telescopes. By further studies it might show how the galaxy, as well as other passive galaxies, works.
The universe still has so much to show astronomers and other scientists. Knowing how passive galaxies work might help scientists know how the universe began. This might start with a passive galaxy that has much hydrogen in it. Also scientists have tried to explain how massive stars are born.
