How did India's ASTROSAT space observatory contribute to our understanding of dwarf galaxy formation and evolution?

India's ASTROSAT, the country's first dedicated multi-wavelength space observatory, made groundbreaking observations of dwarf galaxies located 1.5 to 3.9 billion light years from Earth. Using its Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UVIT), researchers analyzed 17 hours of data to capture evidence of star formation activity and material movement within these cosmic structures. The observatory successfully documented material flowing from the outer edges of 11 dwarf galaxies toward their centers, providing concrete evidence of the galaxy maturation process. This discovery is particularly significant because it offers the first direct observation of how dwarf galaxies, containing only a few billion stars, evolve into mature galaxies like the Milky Way with 200-400 billion stars. These findings challenge existing theoretical models of galaxy evolution and represent a major advancement in our understanding of cosmic assembly processes, demonstrating ASTROSAT's remarkable capabilities in ultraviolet astronomy research.