'Homemade' telescope helps discover 7 hidden dwarf galaxies

A new 'homemade' telescope has helped the scientists in finding seven unseen dwarf galaxies in space.

Astronomers from Yale University made a telescope by stitching together telephoto lenses, which came to their aid in discovering the celestial surprises that were previously overlooked because of their diffuse nature. The galaxies may yield important insights into dark matter and galaxy evolution, while possibly signaling the discovery of a new class of objects in space.

Lead author of a paper Allison Merritt, said that the they received exciting result in their first images itself, and it was very exciting as it spoke to the quality of the telescope.

Pieter van Dokkum, chair of Yale's astronomy department, designed the robotic telescope with University of Toronto astronomer Roberto Abraham. Their Dragonfly Telephoto Array uses eight telephoto lenses with special coatings that suppress internally scattered light. This makes the telescope uniquely adept at detecting the very diffuse, low surface brightness of the newly discovered galaxies.

The lenses are the same kind that are used in sporting events like the World Cup, and they decided to point them upward instead, said van Dokkum. The compact, oven-sized telescope named Dragonfly was built in 2012 at New Mexico Skies, an observatory in Mayhill, N.M.

He added though he's confident that some of them will turn out to be a new class of objects, he would be surprised if all seven of them are satellites of M101.

The findings are published in Astrophysical Journal Letters.