Indian astronomers discover 'one of the farthest' star galaxies in universe

Indian astronomers have discovered one of the farthest star galaxies in the universe, estimated to be located 9.3 billion light-years away from Earth, informed the Department of Space, Indian Government.

This is a landmark achievement for the country's first Multi-Wavelength Space Observatory "AstroSat."

"As a landmark achievement in Space missions, Indian Astronomers have discovered one of the farthest Star galaxies in the universe," read a statement from the Department of Space.

Speaking about the achievement, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge), Jitendra Singh said, "It is a matter of pride that India's first Multi-Wavelength Space Observatory "AstroSat" has detected extreme-UV light from a galaxy located 9.3 billion light-years away from Earth."

The galaxy called AUDFs01 was discovered by a team of Astronomers led by Dr Kanak Saha from the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics(IUCAA) Pune, he said.

According to the department, the importance and "uniqueness of this original discovery" can be made out from the fact that it has been reported in the leading international journal "Nature Astronomy" published from Britain.

Director of Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) Dr Somak Ray Chaudhury, stated that the discovery is "a very important clue" to how the dark ages of the Universe ended and there was light in the Universe. "We need to know when this started, but it has been very hard to find the earliest sources of light," he said.

( With inputs from ANI )