Discover the most 'cramped' galaxy

Using the Hubble and Chandra X-ray telescopes, American astronomers have discovered a crowded and cramped galaxy with a 'population' density far beyond our Milky Way galaxy.

According to Phys.org, the American team said the galaxy M60-UCD1 is located about 54 million light-years from Earth. What is unique about this galaxy is that 50% of its mass is concentrated in a region of space that lasts only 80 light years.

Galaxy M60-UCD1 (small dot in the square) is located next to the giant galaxy NGC 4649 - (Photo: Phys.org)

This means that the density of stars in the galaxy M60-UCD1 is 15,000 times that of the Milky Way and the distance between stars in this galaxy is nearly 25 times that of the Milky Way stars.

'Moving from one star to the other in the M60-UCD1 galaxy is much faster than our galaxy because the stars are very close together,' said Jay Strader of Michigan State University.

Anil Seth of the University of Utah confirmed that the galaxy M60-UCD1 is rich in heavy elements."The presence of heavy elements in this galaxy makes it a very suitable environment for the formation and development of planets and life," Seth said.

Astronomers estimate that the galaxy M60-UCD1 formed about 10 billion years ago.