They are seen in light called H - alpha, about the same color as a red laser pointer, produced by
hot hydrogen gas in the solar atmosphere.
Using Keck Observatory's powerful infrared spectrograph called MOSFIRE, the team dated the galaxy by detecting its Lyman - alpha emission line — a signature
of hot hydrogen gas heated by strong ultraviolet emission from newly born stars.
WHAM telescope The Wisconsin Hydrogen - Alpha Mapping telescope focuses on the light emitted
by hot hydrogen gas.
When the two nuclei's energy states were uncorrelated, the heat flowed as normal,
from hot hydrogen to cold carbon.
The diffuse cloud in this image, taken with the Carnegie Institution for Science's Swope telescope in Chile, is the shell
of hot hydrogen gas ejected by a white dwarf star on March 11, 1437.
When the star's ultraviolet radiation strikes the gases in the nebula, they heat up, giving out radiation ranging in wavelength from blue — emitted by hot oxygen in the bubble near the star — to yellow — emitted
by hot hydrogen and nitrogen.
The team dated EGSY8p7 by recording its Lyman - alpha emission line — a trail of
hot hydrogen gas heated up by ultraviolet (UV) radiation emitted by the galaxy's newborn stars.