Human curiosity has no bonds, it leads to new discoveries enhancing understanding of universe

In a rare find and something thought of as near impossible, the scientists have been able to get a glance at a galaxy just behind ours. Scientists have discovered a huge “extragalactic structure” hidden behind the Milky Way known as the “zone of avoidance” (ZoA) because it is shadowed by our own galaxy’s opaque bulge. The discovery has far-reaching implication in astronomical studies as it would help fill in this shadowy part of the cosmic map which have not been observed so far. Our galaxy, the Milky Way, is distributed inside a thin plane that circles around a central bulge that contains a supermassive black hole. The galactic plane has numerous constituents’ including stars, dust, and gas that block our view. Though scientists have been able to peep through the zone of avoidance (ZoA), a region that obscures 10 to 20 percent of the sky, most of this region remains out of view. A team led by Daniela Galdeano, an astronomer at the National University of San Juan in Argentina, report the discovery of “a new galaxy cluster, behind the Milky Way bulge,” which helps to complete “the picture of the large-scale structure in this still a little explored area of the sky.”

It is incredibly difficult to find galaxies behind the galactic plane, because of the high density of stars and also the obscuration by dust along the line of sight, and this looked like one of the most prominent candidates. One of the biggest implications of this finding is the possibility of not one or two but several galaxies being hidden behind dark spots The team estimated that the cluster contains about 58 galaxies, but it will take more observations to be sure of its mass and contents. The discovery of this cluster offers an exciting glimpse behind the Milky Way, and scientists will need to continue pulling back this curtain to understand our place in space. It is indeed a great achievement that can open the door for several other related discoveries and enhance the knowledge of the universe and what is hidden behind it. But for that to happen large investments would have to be made in making finer equipment which often is not available. This is so true of our country where fundamental research is still in infancy. Scientists work hard to enhance human knowledge but their names seldom become popular. It is about time that we gives due respect and honour to scientists and researchers and make them role models along with the cinema and sports stars.