Study throws light on how gravitational instabilities affect evolution of galaxies

Source: The post is based on the article “Study throws light on how gravitational instabilities affect evolution of galaxies”  published in The Hindu on 21st September 2023

What is the News?

A study conducted by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) could help understand how gravitational instabilities are connected to galaxy evolution.

What is the study conducted by Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) researchers?

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) conducted a study to explore the connection between gravitational instabilities and galaxy evolution.

They investigated how gravitational instabilities relate to star formation, gas content, growth time, and galaxy shapes.

They compared these factors in nearby galaxies and studied 175 galaxies from the Spitzer Photometry and Accurate Rotation Curves (SPARC) database.

They found that spiral galaxies like the Milky Way have higher star formation rates, lower stability, less gas, and faster gravitational instability growth.This suggests that gravitational instabilities in spirals quickly turn gas into stars, depleting gas reserves.

Researchers then compared stability levels in nearby galaxies with those observed at high redshift, which are precursors to galaxies in the local universe.

They found that galaxies with marginal stability levels experience intense, short-term star formation, depleting their gas reserves rapidly. 

Highly stable galaxies, on the other hand, have slower, long-term star formation, gradually converting available gas into stars.

What is the significance of this study?

The study not only contributes to the understanding of gravitational instabilities but also emphasizes the need for future investigations into the impact of these instabilities on the morphological evolution of galaxies across different redshifts.