Oxygen Found in 12 Billion-Year-Old Galaxy NGC 1365: Unlocking Cosmic History

• Scientists have for the first time read the entire past of a galaxy outside our Milky Way, NGC 1365, located 56 million light-years away.
• The study used chemical fingerprints, specifically tracking oxygen patterns, to reveal a 12-billion-year growth story of NGC 1365, published in Nature Astronomy.
• NGC 1365 is a barred spiral galaxy, approximately 200,000 light-years wide and twice the size of the Milky Way, viewed face-on for clear structural and chemical analysis.
• The galaxy's growth involved collisions with dwarf galaxies, gas inflow, and new star formation, with its central part forming quickly and accumulating high oxygen levels.
• This research, matching real data with Illustris Project simulations, establishes 'extragalactic archaeology' and will help understand galaxy formation and the Milky Way's uniqueness.