Monstrous Galaxies: The Poetry of Science

Between darkened suns
They drift,
Twin worlds trapped
in lanes of stardust.
Their paths cross,
a slow collision
of forgotten sounds –
every grain of memory,
buried deep
under the waves.
Traces of gas now unite them,
A stretched silver strap
through the void –
binding
What was once separate.
A promised birth
of burning mass
whose heat will scorch
the same bones of time.
The embers of the stars crackle
In the stillness –
A scar to bear
and bear,
like light
is torn from the night.

This poem is inspired by Recent researchwhich has observed a pair of galaxies in the act of merging 12.8 billion years ago.

The early Universe was a time of intense activity, when galaxies were forming and evolving rapidly. Understanding how these early galaxies grew and interacted is crucial to reconstructing the history of the Universe. One particularly intriguing aspect is the role of quasars – extremely bright objects powered by supermassive black holes at the centres of galaxies. These quasars are thought to form when two gas-rich galaxies merge, causing gas to be directed towards the black holes, triggering intense quasar activity. However, direct observations of these early-stage galaxy mergers and their impact on quasar formation have been scarce, leaving gaps in our understanding of these processes.

To address this issue, a team of researchers used the Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array (ALMA) radio telescope to study a pair of newly discovered quasars, located 12.8 billion light-years away, over the first 900 million years of the universe. This research revealed that these quasars, although faint, are part of merging galaxies connected by a bridge of gas and dust. The galaxies are rich in gas, suggesting that this merger will not only lead to more intense quasar activity, but will also trigger a burst of new star formation, ultimately creating a super-bright “monster galaxy.” These findings are significant as they provide direct evidence of the processes that drive the early evolution of galaxies and black holes, offering valuable insights into the formation of some of the most massive and luminous objects in the universe.