ALMA reveals trove of galaxies in Hubble Ultra Deep Field

New Scientist : Several international teams of astronomers have now used the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) to study the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF) images captured in 2003–4 by the Hubble Space Telescope. Because of ALMA’s ability to see a different part of the electromagnetic spectrum than Hubble, it has not only revealed a new population of galaxies never before seen but also enabled the study of astronomical phenomena such as gas clouds and warm dust. Among the researchers’ findings is that the rate of star formation in a young galaxy is related to its total stellar mass. The scientists also found that star-forming gases increase in abundance the further back in time they look. The results will be published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society and the Astrophysical Journal. More observations of the HUDF by ALMA are planned.