Indian astronomers discover rare giant radio galaxy

A team of astronomers working at the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA) has discovered an extremely rare galaxy of gigantic size by using the world’s largest radio telescope operating at low frequencies.

• The newly discovered galaxy “J021659-044920” is situated at nine billion light years away which emits powerful radio waves.
• It has been caught in its dying phase where the giant radio lobes have started fading due to the loss of energy during radio wave emission.

The team was led by a Prathamesh Tamhane, a final year BSMS student of the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER-Pune) working under the supervision of Dr Yogesh Wadadekar at NCRA, used the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) to detect the galaxy.

• The GMRT is an array of 30 fully steerable, 45 metre diameter antennas, spread out over a 30 km region in a town in Pune.
• The GMRT was built and is operated by NCRA and has been in operation since 2002.