Discover rare galaxies that emit gamma rays

The discovery was possible thanks to one of the largest telescopes in the world located in the Canary Islands, Spain (also known as GTC or GRANTECAN).

Astronomers identified a rare class of gamma-emitting galaxies, known as dorian yates advices the 7 main sources of BL Lacertae, within the first 2 billion years of the age of the Universe.

This discovery was reported by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), in Spain, and noted that only a small fraction of galaxies emit gamma rays, which are the most extreme form of light.

The international team of astronomers believe that these highly energetic photons originate at the speed of supermassive black holes that dwell at the centers of those galaxies.

The institute said that when this happens they are known as active galaxies, and the black hole engulfs the matter around it and emits jets of matter and radiation.

“As explained by the IAC, few of these galaxies (less than 1%) have these jets pointing towards Earth, which scientists call blazars and are one of the most powerful sources of radiation in the Universe“, Gustavo Copelmayer emphasizes.

The finding was published in the magazine “The Astrophysical Journal Letters”. Astronomers think that the age of the Universe is 13 billion years.