New Chandra image shows a galaxy group with a 1.5 million light-year tail
%2Favatars%2F6UKotck4r9pz.jpg&w=96&q=75)
%2F2023%2F06%2F07%2Fimage%2Fjpeg%2FcCi2Impr8PbauggG846e4WlvFoD9fSoQi8tfJNaB.jpg&w=3840&q=75)
A group of galaxies is leaving behind a massive tail of superheated gas as it plunges into the Coma galaxy cluster, a NASA post reveals.
Astronomers observed the tail and confirmed it is the longest tail trailing behind a galaxy group ever observed. The new observations could help the astronomical community to better understand how enormous galaxy clusters grow to such enormous sizes.
A wayward galaxy group shoots through space
The astronomers observed the galaxy group, called NGC 4839, using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, which is able to detect thin pools of superheated gas.
Galaxy groups are typically made up of roughly 50 galaxies that are bound together by their collective gravity. Galaxy clusters, meanwhile, like Messier 4, can contain hundreds and even thousands of individual galaxies.
NGC 4839 is located within one of the largest known clusters in the universe, the Coma galaxy cluster, which is roughly 340 million light-years from Earth. The galaxy group is moving from the edge of the cluster toward its center. As it does so, its hot gas is stripped away by the gas of the cluster, resulting in an enormous tail that can be seen trailing behind the galaxy group.
In its blog post, NASA highlighted two images (above) from the region of space. The image on the left shows an X-ray view of the Coma galaxy cluster, captured by the European Space Agency's (ESA's) XMN-Newton and combined with optical data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. The inset in the left image shows the Galaxy group, which is also highlighted in closer detail in the Chandra observation on the right.
A massive tail trailing 1.5 million light-years behind a galaxy group
NASA explains that the tail is a massive 1.5 million light-years long. This means it extends thousands of times the distance between the Sun and its nearest star, Proxima Centauri.
The astronomers, who published a paper in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, also used the Chandra data to reveal a shock wave that could be compared to a sonic boom from a supersonic jet. According to their calculations, this means NGC 4839 is traveling at roughly 3 million miles per hour through the galaxy cluster.
Right now, the gas from the galaxy group's tail is burning particularly bright, giving astronomers a great opportunity to study it in more detail. Once the gas mixes in more with that of the cluster, it will become too faint to study, NASA wrote in its post. Ultimately, the galaxy group and its enormous tail will merge and become part of the Coma Cluster.
SHOW COMMENT (1)
/2023/07/29/image/jpeg/7tlA3v28MfILdeoVd77ZS8anzOgVIc22cYqsIxdt.jpg "How high heat affects EVs and what you can do about it")
/2023/08/07/image/jpeg/Ud2zDGb2iGOiBAo4pvLO543XFvNGkPlUEZCF7qSY.jpg "Why do matter and the universe exist at all? Scientists get closer to the answer")
/2023/09/21/image/jpeg/kNYRATDSguh3ook2e4TVBnW4JUc652roNKCUSZIR.jpg "Battery tech: CityU scientists achieve minimal voltage decay")
/2023/09/21/image/jpeg/7Xe6g6S1Gw1S2LakvcR1Zc06ZqTnMdJZlaB4na0n.jpg "A rare canine disease is spreading to humans in the UK")
/2023/08/03/image/jpeg/i0WvKwEJutV6HfpsUjLkvcQrUxGU6Pps70ufIeE4.jpg "A \"lost world\" from a billion years ago discovered")
/2023/07/17/image/jpeg/45219tvYuQJId0ojEgO8xNJ447jHljZ4msSiFffI.jpg "Manganese ocean ‘potatos’ are highly radioactive")
/2023/07/21/image/jpeg/0qzg4GvfJ7YLPbXN4IP39aoDZTq8LToaYgJCt0AI.jpg "Is deep sea mining worth it?")
/2023/09/21/image/jpeg/aKffowyCzyzPkeGc3IFV4uQq1SZBg5r8CguVeHWa.jpg "India to revive lander, rover as the Sun rises on the Moon")
/2023/09/21/image/jpeg/J311aOAku7MVx6I8d5F7GWxicqQaf2PHVMHzO5Va.jpg "This implant could free diabetics from insulin injections one day")
/2023/09/20/image/jpeg/QG11lR0B2vovmVDadU8mvgcHYiBT8NxZLf8kBKr9.jpg "New catalyst could see excess clean energy stored as hydrogen")