Astronomers have fashion and eroticism ideals of feminine beautyspotted a pair of exotic features believed to be the aftermath of a colossal cosmic smackdown — not between two galaxies, but two groupsof galaxies.
These glowing arcs of radio energy are known as "radio relics," faint clouds resulting from powerful shockwaves surging through hot gas that fills the spaceamid a galaxy cluster.
The cluster, PSZ2 G181.06+48.47, is some 963 million light-yearsfrom Earth, but its image is less forgettable than its name. Using the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope in India and the Very Large Array in New Mexico, a team of researchers spotted the arcs flanking the cluster like giant parentheses. The distance between the punctuation is an estimated 11 million light-years — about 100 times the span of the Milky Way.
That makes their separation a record holder — "the largest known to date," according to a paperpublished on the discovery in The Astrophysical Journal.
SEE ALSO: What cracked the Milky Way's giant cosmic bone? Scientists think they know.
An annotated view of a galaxy cluster reveals a rare pair of radio relics. Credit: Kamlesh Rajpurohit et al / https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/adbbb9 Galaxies are often part of larger collections of galaxies, held together by gravity, according to NASA. These groups and clusters, containing hundreds to thousands of galactic neighborhoods, serve as building blocks for the larger structures of the universe. Clusters are also composed of scorching gas that reaches millions of degrees as well as dark matter, an invisible material that scientists don't yet fully understand.
The team, led by Kamlesh Rajpurohit, an astronomer at the Harvard & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, thinks the newfound radio relics formed when shock fronts sped through space following two clusters wrecking. These waves can force particles to shine in radio light.
Though these two come as a pair, they're not identical twins. The researchers describe the northernmost glow as brighter and polarized, meaning its light is moving in the same direction. Its companion to the south has a stranger ghostly shape and an energy pattern that may mean it was caused by a more powerful shockwave.
Using an enormous telescope in India and the Very Large Array in New Mexico, pictured above, a team of researchers spotted the arcs flanking the cluster like giant parentheses. Credit: Bettymaya Foott / NRAO / AUI / NSF The relics suggest the entire cluster is in the final throes of a merger set in motion a billion years before.
In the past, astronomers have dubbed clusters fun nicknames based on the shapes of their relics, such as the Toothbrush Cluster. Perhaps in the future this one will leave behind its numerical moniker for something a bit snazzier, like the Eyebrows Cluster or the Air Quotes Cluster. Until that time, you can call it Planck cluster G181+48 for short, Rajpurohit said.
Scientists discovered one other curiosity between the relics: a faint glow at the center of the cluster. This could be a so-called "radio halo," another kind of radio source that emerges when churning gas and particles create turbulence after a violent cosmic crash.
Astronomers have previously detected less than 30 such clusters with relic pairs. But the upcoming Square Kilometre Array being built in South Africa and Australia could be a "game changer," according to the paper's authors.
"There could potentially be many more awaiting discovery in the era of large radio surveys," they said.
UPDATE: May. 7, 2025, 10:55 a.m. EDT This story has been updated to include additional data from the paper's author on the estimated distance of the galaxy cluster from Earth.
Cibao FC vs. Guadalajara 2025 livestream: Watch Concacaf Champions Cup for free
Google Doodle honors 60th anniversary of Greensboro Sit
Sale of .org domain registry delayed by California attorney general
Inside Twitter's effort to change conversations with topics
Great white shark leaps into tiny boat, fisherman treats it like NBD
Facebook will remove some coronavirus conspiracy theories
Google Translate will soon feature audio transcription for Android app
Oops, that vibrator with a camera is super easy to hack
Dallas Mavericks vs. Boston Celtics 2025 livestream: Watch NBA online
Nathan Fillion trolls Hodor and, well, all of us, in new Instagram post
Cibao FC vs. Guadalajara 2025 livestream: Watch Concacaf Champions Cup for free
Disney+ announces lineup of a variety of unscripted series
The New York Post's push alerts just got real dark
Netflix's 'The Pharmacist' recontextualizes the opioid epidemic
Apple is advertising on Elon Musk's X again
Facebook will remove some coronavirus conspiracy theories
Disney+ announces lineup of a variety of unscripted series
Chinese woman gets her wish to undergo gender confirmation surgery at 72
Here's how I feel about all this Stephen Hawking 'news' going around
Reddit's blank canvas experiment draws thousands together for epic battle
'Outlander' Season 3: 10 burning questions we have about Claire and Jamie's reunionSorry, Lyft, but being less awful than Uber doesn't make you 'woke'Jack Dorsey's Square launches in the UKCyclone Debbie proved one thing: Australians are super weirdA dead man's penis is all anyone can remember from the new 'Baywatch' footageAmber Coffman addresses her departure from Dirty Projectors and breakup with David LongstrethHow Star Wars fans are reclaiming the prequels with memesWatch the world's first ever monster truck front flip. You know you'll love it.Best MacBook deal: Save $150 on 2025 Apple MacBook AirSamsung changed the Galaxy S8 battery because of the Note 7 disasterYes, of course, someone from Congress apparently edited the 'celibacy' Wikipedia pageMicrosoft's Windows 10 Creators Update is an OS done rightMcDonald's sauces will be sold in grocery stores and we can all die happyBill O'Reilly attacks Maxine Waters' hairstyle, triggering world's largest eye rollYes, of course, someone from Congress apparently edited the 'celibacy' Wikipedia pageAn early attempt to predict who's guilty in 'Broadchurch' Season 3Lucille Bluth explains why the Trump family is 'Arrested Development' IRLGoodbye internet privacy, we hardly knew youA service now lets people pay their respects to the dead through a livestreamA service now lets people pay their respects to the dead through a livestream James Webb Telescope vs Hubble: See how the images compare Blizzard's Hearthstone to return to China on September 25 · TechNode Netflix releases the first 4 minutes of 'Bridgerton' Season 3, part 2 Space junk found in Australia suspected to be from SpaceX Douyin shifts e The world's largest fish is very mysterious and endangered The first Webb telescope image is warped and psychedelic. Here's why. 'The Boys' Season 4 review: A punishing season of television NASA identifies strange object its rover found on Mars WeChat claims 500 million monthly users actively playing in Best monitor deal: Get the 48 Terribly named 'murder hornet' finally gets a new name 5 Copilot AI features that are on by default in Microsoft products Watch NASA's megarocket ace its thrust test before spaceflight Best tablet deal: The Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE+ is just $489.99 at Amazon Deep sea scientists find strange, transparent fish on ocean expedition Wordle today: The answer and hints for June 11 Google is letting you dig through the treasured Vogue image archive How to change VPNs Charli xcx's 'brat' turns the internet lime green
1.6846s , 10195.6328125 kb
Copyright © 2025 Powered by 【fashion and eroticism ideals of feminine beauty】,Wisdom Convergence Information Network