Astronomers suggest that the enigmatic light stream spreads widely and shines brightly, surpassing the total amount of infrared light emitted from known galaxies. They believe that the light stream may originate from orphaned stars ejected from galaxies by gravitational forces.
According to the Daily Mail, using the scientific experiment rocket named CIBER (Cosmic Infrared Background Experiment), a NASA project observing celestial objects, captured images of the cosmic infrared background at wavelengths shorter than the data previously obtained by the Spitzer Space Telescope.
NASA’s Cosmic Infrared Background ExpeRiment (CIBER) project has captured an image of a remarkably massive and enigmatic infrared light stream encircling a galaxy. Photo: NASA.
Michael Zemcov, the author of the research paper describing the results of the CIBER project, suggests that the most plausible explanation for the phenomenon is that the light stream emerges from stars outside galaxies but within the realm of dark matter. “Stars have been flung out of galaxies through gravitational forces at large distances,” said Zemcov, who is also an astronomer at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
“We believe that the stars are dispersed into space during collisions with galaxies. Although we have observed many cases of stars being expelled from galaxies in tidal streams, our measurements emphasize the widespread nature of this new phenomenon,” explained Zemcov.
This new discovery has redefined the concept of galaxies. According to NASA, galaxies may not necessarily consist of a collection of stars with distinct boundaries. Instead, they stretch out, forming a vast cosmic ocean and interconnecting with each other.
By employing additional infrared colors, future experiments within NASA’s CIBER project can further ascertain the true origins of the mysterious light stream.