Within a space of 3 hours, the world-renowned CSIRO telescope in Australia has discovered previously unknown 3 million galaxies in the universe. It was reported that the world-renowned CSIRO telescope was used to survey the whole southern sky in great detail, leading to the discovery. This is a great feat around the world as it leads to adding a new Atlas to the universe.
The announcement was made on the 1st of December last year when Australia's national science organization CSIRO made it known to the public. This announcement swiftly made headlines worldwide because previously, researchers said as many as 1 million galaxies constellations are unknown to the world of astronomy. Australia's national science organization CSIRO is planning to continue using the powerful telescope to discover more bodies outside of the earth.
Australia's national science organization CSIRO has made a huge difference in astronomy. It took years and thousands of pictures to make one complete discovery of a galaxy. Within 300 hours, the new CSIRO telescope has discovered 3 million galaxies in the universe.
The name of the powerful CSIRO telescope used for this discovery is the Australian Square Kilometer Array Pathfinder (ASKAP). The Australian Square Kilometer Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) comprises 36 radio dish antennae that come together to create high-resolution images of bodies around the universe.
Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) is Only Getting Started
According to the words of Australia's national science organization CSIRO executive, the ASKAP is only getting started with its discovery of bodies around the earth. "the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) is applying the very latest in science and technology to age-old questions about the mysteries of the Universe and equipping astronomers around the world with new breakthroughs to solve their challenges," CSIRO Chief Executive Dr. Larry Marshall said.
According to information released by CSIRO, about 70 billion pixels totalling 26 terabytes of data were used to create the final 903 images used in generating the new Atlas. Before increasing up to 26 terabytes of data, the generation of the final 903 images had initially started at 13.5 "exabytes." The images were processed using the Pawsey Supercomputing Center's "Galaxy" supercomputer.
Despite discovering as many as 3 million galaxies within a short while, it is still believed that the world of astronomy is yet to witness the full potential of the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP).
"This census of the Universe will be used by astronomers around the world to explore the unknown and study everything from star formation to how galaxies and their supermassive black holes evolve and interact," in a statement, the lead author and CSIRO astronomer Dr. David McConnell said. He further said that there are expectations that the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) will discover more galaxies in the future.
Lead author and CSIRO astronomer Dr. David McConnell said if things go as planned, it is expected that the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) will discover more than 10 million galaxies in the universe.