Something in Space is killing off Entire Galaxies

Out there in the depths of space there are entire galaxies being killed off in a manner that is utterly perplexing scientists.

It's the big astrophysical whodunnit. Across the Universe, galaxies are being killed and the question scientists want answered is, what's killing them?

New research published on Jan. 17th by a global team of researchers, based at the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR), seeks to answer that question.

The study reveals that a phenomenon called ram-pressure stripping is more prevalent than previously thought, driving gas from galaxies and sending them to an early death by depriving them of the material to make new stars.

The study of 11,000 galaxies shows their gas—the lifeblood for star formation—is being violently stripped away on a widespread scale throughout the local Universe.

Phys.Org Read more here: https://phys.org/news/2017-01-galaxy-mystery.html

ICRAR http://www.icrar.org/

Clips, images credit: ICRAR, ESO, ESA/HUBBLE & NASA