Alaknanda Galaxy

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Alaknanda Galaxy
JWST NIRCam view of the galaxy Alaknanda.jpg
View of the Alaknanda Galaxy captured by JWST NIRCam. It was detected the presence of a dwarf spheroidal galaxy potentially satellite candidate near the Alaknanda Galaxy named UNCOVER DR3 ID 42811 with a redshift of 3.97. [1]
Observation data
Constellation Sculptor
Right ascension 00h 14m 05.68s
Declination −30° 22′ 20.67″
Redshift 4.05
Distance 12 billion light years (light travel distance)
Characteristics
Type Spiral galaxy
Mass 1×1012  M☉
Number of stars10 billion
Size~10  kpc (33,000  ly)
Other designations
UNCOVER DR3 ID 42812

The Alaknanda Galaxy (designated as UNCOVER DR3 ID 42812) [1] is a spiral galaxy about 12 billion light years away, in the constellation Sculptor. It was discovered in 2025 with NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). It was discovered by two Indian astronomers Rashi Jain and Yogesh Wadadekar from the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics. [2] [3] It has been estimated that the large spiral galaxy existed just 1.5 billion years after the Big Bang. The discovery of the Alaknanda Galaxy was published in Astronomy and Astrophysics in November 2025. [4] [1] [5]

Contents

Etymology

The spiral galaxy was named after the Himalayan river Alaknanda in the Indian subcontinent. [5] [4]

Discovery

The Alaknanda Galaxy was discovered by Rashi Jain and Yogesh Wadadekar while studying the JWST images of the galaxy taken through 21 different filters of the JWST's astronomical telescope. [6] While studying the images, they spotted a galaxy remarkably similar to Milky Way galaxy. They estimated that the spotted galaxy was formed apparently when the universe was 1.5 billion years old after the Big Bang. [7] The discovery was published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics. [1]

Location and structure

The Alaknanda Galaxy lies behind the massive galaxy cluster Abell 2744. The structure of the galaxy is spiral. [8] It has two sweeping spiral arms wrapped around a bright and round central bulge spanning 10  kpc (0.033  Mly ) across. [7]

There are about 10 billion stars in the Alaknanda Galaxy. The galaxy is actively forming new stars, at a rate of approximately 60 M_solar/year. [2] The stellar mass of the galaxy is 1.58×1010 M☉. [1]

Characteristics of galaxy

The star formation rate in the Alaknanda Galaxy is about 20 times that of the Milky Way. [8] It has been estimated that the half of the appeared stars in the Alaknanda Galaxy were formed in only 200 million years. [9]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Jain, Rashi; Wadadekar, Yogesh (2025-11-01). "A grand-design spiral galaxy 1.5 billion years after the Big Bang with JWST". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 703: A96. arXiv: 2412.04834 . doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/202451689 . ISSN   0004-6361.
  2. 1 2 "Alaknanda: JWST discovers massive grand-design spiral galaxy from the universe's infancy". Phys.org– via Phys.org.
  3. ↑ "Galaxy Alaknanda: Ancient spiral discovered by Pune scientists; Milky Way-like structure; 12 billion light-years away". The Times of India. 2025-12-03. ISSN   0971-8257 . Retrieved 2025-12-07.
  4. 1 2 "Alaknanda: Indian researchers find galaxy like Milky Way from 12 billion years ago". www.bbc.com. 2025-12-04. Retrieved 2025-12-07.
  5. 1 2 "Twin of Milky Way galaxy discovered. Indian team names it Alaknanda". India Today. 2025-12-03. Retrieved 2025-12-07.
  6. ↑ "Pune researchers find spiral galaxy like Milky Way from early universe". The Indian Express. 2025-12-03. Retrieved 2025-12-16.
  7. 1 2 Bakich, Michael E. (2025-12-05). "Astronomers discover a grand-design spiral that shouldn't exist". Astronomy Magazine. Retrieved 2025-12-07.
  8. 1 2 Explainers, FP (December 3, 2025). "Alaknanda: How Indian astronomers found a Milky Way-like galaxy".
  9. ↑ "Alaknanda: JWST discovers massive grand-design spiral galaxy from the universe's infancy". EurekAlert!. Retrieved 2025-12-09.
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