While the vastness of space is studied every day, rarely do an undergraduate and two Penn State astronomers discover new galaxies.

Megan DeCesar (senior-astronomy and astrophysics and music); Patrick Durrell, astronomy and astrophysics research associate; and Robin Ciardullo, professor of astronomy and astrophysics, were originally searching for stars that had been removed from their parental galaxy by gravitational interactions near the M81 galaxy.

Upon closer examination of the telescopic pictures of the area around the M81, DeCesar noticed certain areas where young, blue stars had clumped together inside areas of hydrogen gas, which was also pulled from the parent galaxy, and the trio soon refocused their studies on these groups of stars.

"We were looking for stars that had been ripped from galaxies, but what we found instead was more interesting," said Durrell. "One clump of stars we found, no one had ever seen before."

Ciardullo was also surprised that the team had made such a discovery.

"We asked a few simple questions about our data and expected the result to be uninteresting, but we ended up stumbling on something much more interesting," he said.

The team believes DeCesar has found a tidal dwarf galaxy, a small galaxy that forms as a result of interactions between neighboring galaxies, Ciardullo explained. For the most part, this newfound galaxy is made up of younger stars, which led the team to believe that it is much younger than the larger surrounding galaxies that may have spawned it.

Other tidal dwarf galaxies have been found around M81 and in other parts of space, which helps verify the team's findings and makes their preliminary conclusions more probable, DeCesar said.

While new galaxies are found at times, it is rare that they are found so close to home. If this clump of stars is indeed a galaxy, then it will provide never-before-seen insight into the formation of young galaxies. Today's telescopic and computer technologies will provide unprecedented data that could not have been collected in the past, Ciardullo said.

DeCesar first found this galaxy after analyzing data collected for the team by the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope located in Hawaii. A feat in itself, DeCesar and her advisers beat the one-in-four odds to have the telescope collect data specifically for their research.

The area of the sky studied by the team is located not far from the long end of the Big Dipper, said Durrell. Unfortunately, it cannot be seen with the naked eye or with binoculars, but at times, Penn State astronomers have been able to view the M81 galaxy using their telescopic equipment.

Ciardullo explained the significance of the team's discovery lies in part to the timing of the discovery.

"I look at this galaxy and see a lot going on," he said. "If I am right, we are seeing the creation of a whole new galaxy of stars and possibly the slow destruction of another. The area around M81 is demonstrating the most typical destruction, and we are now able to trace it."

"Sometimes I myself wonder, does it really matter? I think just finding things out is important," she said. "It's OK for people to be curious and is part of being human. Sometimes I ask myself, how am I helping anybody by being an astronomer, but most people seem interested in my discovery."

Now that the team has had some time to clarify their predictions about their proposed new galaxy, they will be applying to have the Hubble Space Telescope photograph the area of the sky around the new galaxy and M81. Hopefully, the space telescope can give them even more definitive data to use in validating their conclusions, Durrell said.

Ciardullo has found that many researchers had data similar to the team's, but didn't know how to interpret it. He hopes that through their findings, other researchers will find similar galaxies in other areas of space.

All three team members shared similar feelings after studying the data and deciding that they may have found a new galaxy.

DeCesar, the first to compile the data it at the American Astronomical Society meeting, was thrilled at the discovery.

"I remember thinking, 'Oh my God, a new galaxy!' I was definitely pretty excited at first," she said.

Ciardullo shared DeCesar's sentiment and explained the significance of discovery for all astronomers.

"It is definitely a great feeling for astronomers to find something new and get the feeling that you know and have discovered something that no one else knows," he said.

Durrell agreed with Ciardullo's assessment of the discovery and now has an answer to his friends' jokingly asking him about his work.

"Science is basically all about discovery, and this is a new galaxy," he said. "Now when my friends joke with me and ask, 'Pat, have you discovered any galaxies yet?' -now I can confidently answer, 'Yes, I have.' "