Recycling hydrogen: A galactic enterprise
Recycling hydrogen: A galactic enterprise - Galaxies have been recycling immense volumes of hydrogen gas and heavy elements for billions of years. In so doing they have helped to build successive generations of stars in processes that stretch out across deep time and deep space, according to data obtained using the ultraviolet-sensitive Cosmic Origins Spectrograph. Some galaxies can ignite a rapid firestorm of star birth that ultimately blows away their fuel in a final flash of glory, extinguishing more star-birth activity early in their lives. However, new spectrographic observations suggest that other types of galaxy initiate an ongoing recycling process that prevents them from emptying their "fuel tanks" and allows them to sustain their star-forming epoch for more than 10 billion years. It's might just be the last word in sustainable, renewable energy.
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