In early 2023, NASA observed an oxygen cloud jump. When scientists were studying the Andromeda Galaxy, they found a strange object that was found right next to the Andromeda Galaxy. When NASA astronomers were studying the Andromeda Galaxy, they found a gas cloud made of oxygen right next to the Andromeda Galaxy.
Strange Object near Andromeda Galaxy
When astronomers saw this strange object, it was a gas cloud as big as the Andromeda Galaxy.
In our space exploration for a long time, we have found traces of the element of oxygen in only 2 places, Orion Nebula and Rho Ophiuchi cloud, and only 2%. Usually in space oxygen molecules combine with dust and hydrogen and convert into water molecules and freeze. Therefore, there are no oxygen molecules in our space. But in this particular area there is an entire oxygen cloud which is about one hundred thousand light years in size.
Now astronomers are confirming that this oxygen cloud right next to the Andromeda galaxy is actually an oxygen cloud or not. This discovery was launched in 2018. Astronomers did not study there wondering whether the Andromeda Galaxy has an oxygen cloud or not. Rather, they started the study on Andromeda Galaxy due to 2 main reasons.
- The first was that the Andromeda galaxy and the Milky Way galaxy are the same size, or that the Andromeda galaxy is actually larger than our Milky Way galaxy. Astronomers’ mission was to reach the root of the Andromeda Galaxy and study it.
- The second was that the Andromeda Galaxy is destroying its satellite galaxy too fast. Their mission was to determine if the Andromeda and Milky Way Galaxies would collide in the future
Three Astronomers Xavier Strottner, Marcel Drechsler and Yann Sainty will carry out this mission. They used a process that is already present in our eyes. The process is called Long Exposure Process.
Long Exposure Process
To understand this process you have to imagine how your eyes work in a closed dark room. As soon as you enter a dark closed room, the pupil of your eye starts to turn white so that our eye can detect more light and push it inside, then after some time we start seeing things in the dark. Exactly the same happens in the same Long Exposure Process.
There is darkness in our universe, which is why astronomers chose a spot between the Andromeda Galaxy and the Milky Way Galaxy to study the Andromeda Galaxy. Astronomers started observing that spot through narrow band from where the discovery of this oxygen cloud started. Astronomers used three filters to use this long exposure process.
- H-Alpha
- O (III)
- Sulphur 2
H-Alpha
Hydrogen is the first and most abandoned after the Big Bang, so these astronomers started with H-Alpha. The particular wave length in Hydrogen Emission Spectrum is 656 nm. Through this, an attempt was made to find hydrogen in the oxygen cloud. This wavelength contains red light, which is why all the hydrogen cloud pictures you see are in red.
But the surprising thing is that where our entire universe is filled with hydrogen, there is not even 2% trace of hydrogen found in this oxygen cloud.
O(III)
This filter also works like H-Alpha but there is a difference where H-Alpha has 437nm wavelength i.e. blue light instead of 656nm. This light is observed in space. Using this filter, astronomers began to see the Oxygen Cloud Full. When astronomers saw this, they couldn’t believe it, because as you were told that there is no oxygen in space, there is a whole oxygen cloud that is full of gas. Its actual size is 10 times bigger than normal nebula. Astronomers observed this Oxygen Cloud for a long time to confirm it, after which NASA confirmed that yes it is an Oxygen Gas Cloud.
As soon as this discovery was published some time ago, the rest of the astronomers community gave it the title of Erroneous meaning inaccurate discovery.
Why reject this discovery!
As the rest of the astronomers community called the discovery of the Oxygen Cloud erroneous. So at that time those three astronomers went to the USA government. The USA government rejected the discovery of these three astronomers without seeing the result. The USA government said that the pictures that you have brought are either due to the malfunction of your telescope or this mark is due to light pollution in space, because the USA government said that there is oxygen in space. It is not. Then the discovery was rejected until Bray Falls came into view.
How this discovery approved
As soon as Bray Falls found out this discovery, he found this whole discovery very interesting. Then Bray Falls took over this discovery. He used two things to know this truth.
- The first Takahashi Refractor that detects 90% more light than a normal refractor.
- Second CMOS Camera This camera can easily capture visible light to x-ray.
Along with this, Bray Falls also used two such techniques that eliminated the suspicion of light pollution forever.
The first in which he captured a picture every 5 seconds, this process he did for 15 hours. Finally, an average of all these images was extracted and their background noise was reduced. This process is called Image Stacking.
Second, images from blue light and O (III) were created by the Continuum Subtraction Process and then superimposed the two images on each other to remove an extra boost of contrast to create an image in which a blue object is easily visible.
Blue color is our oxygen cloud and rest red part is hydrogen. After this discovery, all other astronomers and the USA government had to believe that this is indeed an oxygen cloud that exists near the Andromeda galaxy. This is the most unique and interesting discovery till date. But it is not known whether it is called oxygen cloud.
