Experts discover Peter Crouch of stars (From The Northern Echo)

Experts discover Peter Crouch of stars

8:51am Monday 22nd March 2010 in

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A NEWLY-DISCOVERED galaxy went through a teenage growth spurt and would now be the astronomical equivalent of gangly footballer Peter Crouch, scientists said last night.

The galaxy created stars similar to the sun up to 100 times faster than our modern-day Milky Way, according to Durham University experts.

Researchers were able to look at how the galaxy, known as SMM J2135-0102, looked ten billion years ago, three billion years after the Big Bang, because of the length of time its light took to reach Earth.

Their findings reveal details of how stars formed billions of years ago, suggesting formation was quicker in the early universe as galaxies went through huge growth.

Lead author Dr Mark Swinbank, from the university’s Institute for Computational Cosmology, said: “This galaxy is like a teenager going through a growth spurt. If you could see it today as an adult, you would find the galactic equivalent of the football player Peter Crouch.

“We don’t fully understand why the stars formed so rapidly, but our results suggest that stars formed much more efficiently in the early universe. Galaxies in the early universe appear to have gone through rapid growth and stars such as our sun formed much quicker than they do now.”

Scientists believe the distant galaxy was producing stars at a rate equivalent to 250 suns per year.

The research was funded by the Royal Astronomical Society and the Science and Technology Facilities Council and their findings are published in the scientific journal Nature.