Figure 1
This image shows six of the three-dozen "ultraviolet luminous galaxies"
spotted in our corner of the universe by NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer.
These massive galaxies greatly resemble newborn galaxies that were common
in the early universe. The discovery came as a surprise, because
astronomers had thought that the universe's "birth-rate" had declined,
and that massive galaxies were no longer forming.
The galaxies, located in the center of each panel, were discovered after
the Galaxy Evolution Explorer scanned a large portion of the sky with its
highly sensitive ultraviolet-light detectors. Because young stars pack
most of their light into ultraviolet wavelengths, young galaxies appear
to the Galaxy Evolution Explorer like diamonds in a field of stones.
Astronomers mined for these rare "gems" before, but missed them because
they weren't able to examine a large enough slice of the sky. The Galaxy
Evolution Explorer surveyed thousands of nearby galaxies before finding
three-dozen newborns.
While still relatively close in astronomical terms, these galaxies are
far enough away to appear small to the Galaxy Evolution Explorer.
Clockwise beginning from the upper left, they are called:
GALEX_J232539.24+004507.1, GALEX_J231812.98-004126.1,
GALEX_J015028.39+130858.5, GALEX_J021348.52+125951.3,
GALEX_J143417.15+020742.5, GALEX_J020354.02-092452.5.
