New Delhi: Nasa has congratulated the team of Indian scientists who made the discovered one of the farthest galaxies in the universe. The team that achieved the unique feat was led by Dr. Kanak Saha, at the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Pune.

According to NASA, the discovery of the galaxy, named AUDFs01 helps to further humankind's understanding of their origin.

“NASA congratulates researchers on their exciting discovery. Science is a collaborative effort around the world & discoveries like these help further humankind’s understanding of where we come from, where are we going, & are we alone, “said NASA Public Affairs Officer, Felicia Chou to ANI.

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The groundbreaking discovery was made possible by India’s first multi-wavelength satellite, AstroSat which was launched in September 2015. It was developed by a team led by Shyam Tandon, Ex Emeritus Professor, IUCAA with the support of ISRO.

This satellite has five unique X-ray and ultraviolet telescopes working in tandem, with which it is able to detect extreme-UV light from far away galaxy. According to an official statement by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), since UV radiation is absorbed by Earth’s atmosphere, it can only be observed from Space.

“AstroSat/UVIT was able to achieve this unique feat because the background noise in the UVIT detector is much less than the ones on Hubble Space Telescope”, said Dr. Saha in a statement.

Prof. Tandon also said in the statement, “The excellent spatial resolution, and high sensitivity, a tribute to the hard work of UVIT core team over a decade, were key to the detection of this very weak source.”

What is AUDFs01?

AUDFs01 is one of the earliest galaxies formed in the universe soon after the Big Bang which is a phenomenon that has led to the creation of the universe. The early days of the newly formed universe were characterized by darkness and chaos with particles such as protons, neutrons, and electrons. As the universe cooled, hydrogen atoms formed and gradually light was able to travel freely ins space. The discovery of the new galaxy gives an insight into these early days of the universe.

"This 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. I am very proud that my colleagues have made such an important discovery, ” said Dr. Somak Raychaudhury, Director of IUCAA, in a statement by ISRO.