Physicists have created a novel simulation which allows users to watch how the colour of a galaxy changes over time as it evolves.
The results will be presented later today at the Royal Astronomical Society National Astronomy Meeting 2016, and are based on a preliminary paper led by researchers at Durham University.
The relationship between colour and age of a galaxy has been established. Galaxies that appear blue are home to young stars burning brightly, and are still active with new stars forming within them.
Since larger stars reach higher temperatures, they deplete their hydrogen reserves through nuclear reactions at a faster rate, leaving older, more red-coloured stars to hobble along the galaxy.
As galaxies age and turn from blue to red, there is a green intermediate stage. The middle-aged galaxies are rare. James Trayford, lead-author of the study and PhD student working at Durham University’s Institute for Computational Cosmology, told The Register that he thought that green galaxies probably made up less than ten per cent of all galaxies.
The rarity suggests that green galaxies are in a critical stage and fizzle out quickly.
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According to this research, our 13.2 billion-year-old home galaxy the Milky Way is close to transitioning to green, but is white at the moment.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 01 2016, @10:36PM
Cosmo [wikipedia.org] study? Am I on the right site?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 02 2016, @02:13AM
Editors must be trying to broaden the appeal [cosmopolitan.com] of this site.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 02 2016, @02:43AM
Summer Nights: Turn out the Lights and Reveal your Milky Way.
How to Heat Things Up in your Hydrogen Envelope.
What Guys Really Think about Spiral Arms.
5 Outfits that Wont Make Your Black Hole look Super Massive.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 01 2016, @11:21PM
Which Galaxy Type are You? (Elliptical, Spiral, Barred Spiral or Irregular.)
Dark Matter: Playing to Your Strengths.
Beauty Tips of the Stars.
Will He Merge with You? Or Just Pass Through and Leave?
(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Saturday July 02 2016, @12:08AM
I'm dark energy. I'm pushing you and your gf apart cuz I want to nail her on the rebound, but you'll never detect my presence until it's too late.
My ducks are not in a row. I don't know where some of them are, and I'm pretty sure one of them is a turkey.
(Score: 2) by rts008 on Saturday July 02 2016, @12:33AM
While I applaud the galaxy-wide effort to 'go green', I have to wonder about what they are REALLY up to...and how this will impact dark matter. ;-)
(Score: 2) by Gravis on Saturday July 02 2016, @02:28AM
OMG! it's African-American matter, you racist! (^_^;)