alaknanda galaxy for 4 December 2025

Alaknanda Galaxy Latest News

Recently, researchers at National Centre for Radio Astrophysics - Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (NCRA–TIFR), Pune, have discovered a spiral galaxy and named it as Alaknanda.

About Alaknanda Galaxy

• It is located about 12 billion light years away and has textbook spiral structure. 
• It is named after a Himalayan river Alaknanda and the Hindi word for the Milky Way.
• The galaxy has two well-defined spiral arms wrapping around a bright central bulge, spanning approximately 30,000 light-years in diameter.
• It is a powerhouse of stellar birth, creating stars at a rate equivalent to about 60 solar masses annually.
• It looks remarkably similar to our own Milky Way and formed when the Milky way was only 10 per cent of its current age.
• It was discovered by using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope.

 What is a Spiral Galaxy?

• Spiral galaxies are twisted collections of stars and gas that often have beautiful shapes and are made up of hot, young stars.
• In a spiral galaxy, the stars, gas, and dust are gathered in spiral arms that spread outward from the galaxy’s center.
• Structure
  • Most spiral galaxies contain a central bulge surrounded by a flat, rotating disk of stars. 
  • The bulge in the center is made up of older, dimmer stars and is thought to contain a supermassive black hole.
  • Approximately two-thirds of spiral galaxies also contain a bar structure through their center, as does the Milky Way. 
  • The disk of stars orbiting the bulge separates into arms that circle the galaxy.
  • These spiral arms contain a wealth of gas and dust and younger stars that shine brightly before their quick demise.

Source: IE