Spanish astronomers have discovered NGC 6789 in a distant dwarf galaxy. star formation processdoes not fit standard cosmological models.
The observations were made using the two-meter TTT3 telescope, and the data obtained surprised even experienced researchers.
This galaxy is located 12 million light years from Earth and is completely isolated – there are very few neighbors around it, no traces of recent collisions or influx of gas from outside. Under such conditions, the process of star formation proceeds extremely slowly: according to calculations, NGC 6789's gas reserves are only enough to form stars with a total mass of about 200 thousand solar masses.
But new observations show the opposite. Over the past 600 million years, NGC 6789 has created stars with a total mass of about 100 million solar masses – more than 400 times the theoretical limit. At the same time, astronomers have yet to find any external source of gas that could explain such an increase in activity.
The only possible explanation considered by scientists is that the galaxy's internal gas reserves have been underestimated by orders of magnitude. If confirmed, data from NGC 6789 could force a reconsideration of ideas about the growth of small, isolated galaxies.
