In Search of the Birth of a Galaxy

A paper by:

RAdm. RM Wey

COSR: SFS-SFC

Because of the vast distances between galaxies, and the period of observation required to obtain meaningful data, the observance of a galaxy in the act of formation has never been observed firsthand.

As early as the mid twentieth century, astronomers had been attempting to observe areas of deep space where distant galaxies[and thus peer back in time]from the earliest moments of the universe could be found.

They were aided[at first]with telescopes which saw only fuzzy blurs, and then, by extremely large land based telescopes, as well as the orbital space telescope: ‘Hubble.’

The only drawback to such observations, is that the object they see[being perhaps several billion light years away]is how it looked when its light first left, and may not even exist in the form being observed.

However, such research has proven vital in some areas. The theory that all galaxies were formed at the same time, in the distant and early stages of our universe, has long since faded into folklore. For while the galaxies are old, some are not as old as others.

Discourse continues on whether the galaxies[as they formed]did so all at once, or[as sounds more plausible]evolved into the forms we see today. These various galaxies have been classified by category, i.e., spiral, elliptical, ovoid, and irregular.

In searching the universe, researchers and astronomers seek out galaxies which produce large quantities of new stars[our own galaxy produces only 2 or 3 new stars a year]. By using radio telescopes, they can pick out the ‘voices’ of what they believe to be newly forming galaxies.

Now as odd as it may seem, one of the ways this is done, is by looking into a section of the night sky where galaxies are present, and finding a place where high energy ultraviolet photons SHOULD be.

By using this technique, researchers from Caltech were able to locate some twenty potential candidates[which has since risen to one fifty]all of which are proletarian, or simply put common place.

And yet the discourse continues as to whether this approach is correct; There are those who say that, as we observe only the ultraviolet, we miss what may be the bigger picture.

However, such observations are far from first hand, and even with bigger and more accurate space based telescopes, such observations will still be of objects from our universes' past.

Alas, it is perhaps, a puzzle that we will never solve. For with each new answer, there comes even more questions. With the vastness of space to find them in.