Einstein Ring Reveals Mysteries of a Hyper-Luminous Galaxy 10 Billion Light-Years Away

Astronomers have observed an incredibly luminous infrared galaxy (HyLIRG) named PJ0116-24, located 10 billion light-years from Earth. This discovery was made possible through the observation of an “Einstein ring,” a rare feature caused by gravitational lensing, where a nearby galaxy’s gravity bends and magnifies the light from PJ0116-24.
Published in Nature Astronomy, the study reveals that PJ0116-24’s intense luminosity challenges the conventional belief that only galaxy mergers produce such brightness. Instead, the galaxy’s rapid star formation suggests that such luminosity can result from internal processes.
PJ0116-24 shines 10,000 times brighter than the Milky Way in infrared light, according to the European Southern Observatory (ESO). Data from the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) and ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) showed cold gas in the region, while warm gas moved in an organized manner, indicating internal star formation rather than galaxy mergers.
These findings complement earlier research on a smaller galaxy by Cornell astronomer Amit Vishwas and his colleagues, using the James Webb Space Telescope.

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