Smoke and Mirrors: The Driving Forces in Extreme Galaxies

The brightest galaxies in the Universe have been detected around the last decade. Their luminosities are so bright, that they outshine the Milky Way by a factor of 1000. The great luminosity is driven by an Active Galactic Nucleus - containing a supermassive black hole at the centre of these galaxies. The details of how the gas is processed within these galaxies is not clear. Models of galaxy evolution predict steady processes, however, these models do not coincide with the violent changes we see in these hyperluminous galaxies.

By combining archived observations and models of galaxy evolution, we hope to unravel the mysteries of these galaxies and discover whether there is an upper limit to their luminosity. The ALMA telescope in Chile will provide crucial information and will allow us to collect/use data from the most promising candidates.