Indian astronomers discover one of the farthest galaxies in the universe

Representational Image (NASA)

Indian astronomers have discovered one of the farthest galaxies in the universe, which is estimated to be 9.3 billion light-years away from the earth. A team of astronomers led by Dr Kanak Saha from the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) in Pune discovered the galaxy.

The galaxy, christened ‘AUDFs01’, was detected by India’s first Multi-Wavelength Space Observatory called ‘AstroSat’. To put it more precisely, the observatory had detected extreme UV light from the newly discovered galaxy located billions of light-years away.

Announcing the discovery, the Department of Space, said: “As a landmark achievement in Space missions, Indian astronomers have discovered one of the farthest star galaxies in the universe.”

The information was also shared by Union Minister of State (Independent Charge), Dr Jitendra Singh. He said: “The galaxy called AUDFs01 was discovered by a team of Astronomers led by Dr Kanak Saha from the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) Pune.”

India’s AstroSat/UVIT was able to detect one of the farthest star galaxies in the universe because the background noise in it is much lesser than on National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)’s Hubble Space Telescope.

Congratulating the Indian space scientists, Felicia Chou, Public Affairs Officer, NASA, said: “NASA congratulates the researchers on their exciting discovery.”

Dr Somak Ray Chaudhury, Director, IUCAA, also hailed the discovery. Explaining its importance, he said: “This discovery is a very important clue to how the dark ages of the Universe ended and there was light in the Universe. We need to know when this started, but it has been very hard to find the earliest sources of light.”

With ANI inputs