New galaxy discovery has an Indian star

A multinational team of radio astronomers led by Ananda Hota, an astrophysicist with the National centre for radio astrophysics (NCRA), has discovered a new galaxy named Speca. The team used the NCRA’s giant metre radio telescope (GMRT) facility at Khodad, near Pune.

The centre’s scientists are of the opinion that Speca (Spiral-host episodic radio galaxy tracing cluster accretion) is probably the most exotic galaxy with a black hole ever seen and has the potential to teach new lessons about how galaxies and clusters of galaxies were formed in the early universe.

The GMRT is the largest and most powerful radio telescope in the world in the low frequency range of 150-1500 MHz and is widely used by astronomers the world over.

A press statement issued by NCRA in Pune on Monday said that observing at low radio frequencies with the GMRT is like making a “deeper archaeological excavation” to unravel the history of jet-activity of black holes.

Sandeep Sirothia, a radio astrophysicst at NCRA Pune, told DNA that Speca galaxy was special because of two reasons. “Firstly, this galaxy possesses a third pair of very old electrons which are emitting radio waves at very low radio frequencies. Secondly, Speca is different because episodic jet activity in this galaxy is stopping and starting at three distinct intervals,” Sirothia said.

Congratulating Hota and his team, Govind Swarup, chief architect of the GMRT said, “This is an outstanding discovery and highlights the importance of sensitive observations at metre wavelengths provided by the GMRT.”  Hota’s team includes radio astronomers from India, Japan, South Korea and England.