How did India's ASTROSAT telescope help scientists understand the formation and evolution of dwarf galaxies?

India's ASTROSAT, the country's first 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, researchers analyzed 17 hours of data and discovered evidence of material moving from the outer edges of 11 dwarf galaxies toward their centers, revealing the live formation process of these cosmic structures. The study, published in Nature, showed star-forming complexes on the periphery of dwarf galaxies that spiral inward within a billion-year timescale, contributing to galaxy growth. This research provides crucial insights into how dwarf galaxies, containing only a few billion stars, potentially evolve into mature galaxies like the Milky Way with hundreds of billions of stars. ASTROSAT's deep field imaging capabilities and resolving power were key to spotting young star-forming clumps, helping scientists understand the assembly process that challenges current theoretical models of galaxy evolution.