Collisions between galaxies are rich in molecular gas, can provoke outbreaks of star formation.
Astronomers think that this gas can stimulate the activity of star formation. Astronomers Junko Ueda, David Wilner and Giovanni Fazio used the submillimeter array ALMA to study the gas in the Central regions of the Antennae galaxies, the nearest system, which is about seventy-two million light years.
According to estimates, the rate of star formation of the system is about ten solar masses per year, most of which is in a non-nuclear region of the two galaxies. Astronomers studied the star formation in one of the two nuclear regions, whose gas content is a hundred times more than in the center of the milky Way.
The scientists measured the radiation from five organic molecules CN, HCN, HCO +, CH3OH (methanol) and HNCO (solanova acid), to find evidence of shock activity. Methanol and solanova acid was first discovered in the gas composition which, in a collision of galaxies triggers the formation of new stars.
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