What occurs when two of the most important objects within the universe collide?
Simple, says a brand new research: They create one of many largest shock waves within the universe.
Located about 730 million light-years from Earth, Abell 3667 is a galaxy cluster in chaos. Actually composed of two clusters (or teams) of galaxies colliding into each other, Abell 3667 incorporates greater than 550 particular person galaxies slowly stirring into one huge cosmic gumbo.
It’s not readily obvious to most telescopes, however this cosmic collision has created an infinite disturbance within the area — a gargantuan shock wave flaring out of both facet of the merging cluster, and visual solely in radio wavelengths.
Now, a brand new research revealed Feb. 7 within the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics presents probably the most detailed image ever captured of this huge wave. Using the MeerKAT radio telescope array in South Africa, the researchers imaged each halves of the shock wave’s radio part — additionally referred to as “radio relics” — and located that the buildings are much more advanced than earlier observations indicated.
“The shock waves act as giant particle accelerators and accelerate electrons almost to the speed of light,” lead research writer Francesco de Gasperin, visiting scientist on the Hamburg Observatory in Germany, said in a statement.
“The waves are threaded by an intricate sample of vibrant filaments that hint the situation of large magnetic field lines and the areas the place electrons are accelerated.”
According to the researchers, the shock wave first blasted into being about 1 billion years in the past, when the 2 galaxy clusters that make up Abell 3667 first collided. Galaxy clusters are probably the most huge gravitationally-bound buildings within the universe; when two of them merge, they launch the most important quantity of vitality in a single occasion because the Big Bang, the researchers mentioned.
As the wave shot electrons into space at near-light-speed, the particles tore by way of magnetic fields within the area, emitting the dual arcs of radio waves seen at present. The researchers discovered that these radio arcs every transfer at greater than 3.3 million miles per second (5.3 million kilometers per second), are about 13 million light-years aside from one another; and every measure 60 instances bigger than the whole Milky Way galaxy, which spans about 100,000 light-years in diameter.
That’s one mighty explosion — and for astronomers sitting safely throughout the universe, one “spectacular” view, the researchers mentioned.
Originally revealed on Live Science.
