The brightest ever galaxy known to the astronomers is likely to be on the verge of ripping itself apart. The galaxy, named W2246-0526, is located around 12.4 billion light-years away from Earth. The galaxy is experiencing so much of turmoil that it has raised the possibility of W2246-0526 emitting its complete gas supply that is required for the formation of stars.

The phenomenon has been detected by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) technology. It is established in the Atacama desert of Chile and is the most advanced technology known for studying the space.

The data collected from the ALMA will be extremely significant in understanding the future of not only W2246-0526 galaxy but other galaxies in general. According to co-author of the study and an astronomer with the Universidad Diego Portales in Santiago, Roberto Assef, the discovery will offer deeper understanding of the process of evolution of galaxies.

The ALMA researchers made the discovery while continuing the work done by NASA. WISE (Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer) spacecraft of NASA has already prompted that the infrared light being emitted by W2246-0526 galaxy is much brighter than the combined light of over 300 trillion suns.

ALMA technology has allowed the researchers to examine the definite movement of the interstellar medium of the galaxy, as well as the gas and dust that swirl between the stars. The data collected by ALMA reveals that this galaxy contains a ‘voraciously feeding supermassive black hole’ at its center. The extreme brightness of the galaxy is owing to a small gas disk that is extremely powerful and is rotating around the black hole.

First, the surrounding dust absorbs the light that is emitted by this disk and then the light is ejected into the universe on the infrared wavelength. “The powerful infrared energy emitted by the dust then has a direct and violent impact on the entire galaxy, producing extreme turbulence throughout the interstellar medium,” said Assef.