Starburst Galaxies.New Shots - Daily Mail

New snapshots from the early universe reveal the violent 'youth' of today's biggest galaxies

 The galaxies are 10 billion light years away, and due to the speed light takes to reach us, we see them as they were 10 billion years ago, in the early universe.

A starburst is the most intense form of star formation known to science - but the scientists now believe that the star formation only lasts for 100 million years, a moment in astronomical terms.

The galaxies pictured go on to form massive elliptical galaxies - the largest in the universe, say the universe of Durham scientists, who used data from two telescopes in Chile, the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment and the Very Large Telescope, among others.
It also seems likely that the starbursts are abruptly 'snuffed out' by powerful forces.
'We know that massive elliptical galaxies stopped producing stars rather suddenly a long time ago, and are now passive.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2091531/Starburst-galaxies-New-snapshots-revealed-early-universe.html#ixzz1kUGQEcR6