Project description
Tracing the mysterious origin of hydrogen gas in galaxies
Neutral hydrogen gas is the fuel for star formation, but most galaxies do not have enough gas reserves to keep forming stars throughout their entire lifetime. Therefore, they must be accreting gas from elsewhere. Computer simulations suggest that this gas may come from the space between galaxies. As the radiation the gas emits is very faint, this process has not been observed so far. The EU-funded MeerGas project will use extremely sensitive radio observations of 30 nearby galaxies made by South Africa's MeerKAT telescope to detect the accreting gas. The project will comprise the only systematic study of gas accretion at high resolution and high sensitivity until the completion of the Square Kilometre Array radio telescope in a decade.
Fields of science
Programme(s)
Topic(s)
Funding Scheme
ERC-ADG - Advanced Grant
Host institution
3526 KV Utrecht
Netherlands
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Beneficiaries (1)
3526 KV Utrecht
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