Tien Nu, a galaxy spiraling closest to the Milky Way, formed after the collision between two smaller galaxies.
Galaxy Fairy Woman. (Photo: Apod.nasa.gov).
Andromeda is a spiral galaxy in the northern sky. In Vietnamese it is called Tien Nu galaxy or Tien Nu nebula. It is 2.5 million light-years from the Milky Way and is the spiral galaxy closest to the Milky Way.
Dr. Francois Hammer, an expert at the Paris Observatory, told the BBC that scientists have discovered many galaxies near the edge of the universe, but we know very little about galaxies near them. I most, including Tien Nu.
' Many astronomers think that galaxies of Tien Nu may be the result of a merger. However, this hypothesis has never been proven , "Dr Hammer said.
Tien Nu has many special points. It has a huge central area surrounded by a thin but wide disk of dust and gas. It contains countless old stars and they form many big branches.
BBC said, Hammer and colleagues used computer models to learn the special properties of Tien Nu galaxy. Models are run on high-speed computers of the Chinese National Observatory and the Paris Observatory.
The results show that the two galaxies collided with each other about 9 billion years ago. The merger process was officially completed 5.5 billion years ago, leading to the birth of Tien Nu galaxy.
Hammer said that the discovery of Tien Nu galaxy's formation will help astronomers better understand the birth of the Milky Way.
' Maybe the Milky Way is also created in the same way as the Tien Nu galaxy. Even that process is much earlier , 'he commented.