Abell 1033 And Two Colliding Galaxy Clusters 1.6 Billion Light-Years Away From Earth

MessageToEagle.com – Using X-ray and radio data, scientists have determined that Abell 1033 is actually two galaxy clusters in the process of colliding.

This extraordinarily energetic event, happening from the top to the bottom in the image, has produced turbulence and shock waves, similar to sonic booms produced by a plane moving faster than the speed of sound.

NASA has now published images of a galaxy cluster known as Abell 1033, which is located 1.6 billion light-years away from Earth.

By combining X-rays with other types of light, such as radio waves, a more complete picture of these important cosmic objects can be obtained. A new composite image of the galaxy cluster Abell 1033, includes X-rays from Chandra (purple) and radio emission from the Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR) network in the Netherlands (blue). Optical emission from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey is also shown.

In Abell 1033, the collision has interacted with another energetic cosmic process — the production of jets of high-speed particles by matter spiraling into a supermassive black hole, in this case one located in a galaxy in one of the clusters.

These jets are revealed by radio emission to the left and right sides of the image. The radio emission is produced by electrons spiraling around magnetic field lines, a process called synchrotron emission.

The electrons in the jets are traveling at very close to the speed of light. As the galaxy and its black hole moved toward the lower part of the image, the jet on the right slowed down as it crashed into hot gas in the other galaxy cluster. The jet on the left did not slow down because it encountered much less hot gas, giving a warped appearance for the jets, rather than the straight line that is typically seen.

This image of Abell 1033 also provides an example of “pareidolia”, a psychological phenomenon where familiar shapes and patterns are seen in otherwise random data.

In Abell 1033, the structures in the data create a strong resemblance to many of the depictions of the famous fictional Starship Enterprise from Star Trek.

NASA says Abell 1033 is not the only energetic cosmic process captured by the composite image. Scientists say jets of high-speed particles spiraling into a supermassive black hole were also revealed by radio emission to the left and right sides of the image.

Other sources of radio emission in the image besides the starship-shaped object are the shorter jets from another galaxy (labeled “short jets”) and a “radio phoenix” consisting of a cloud of electrons that faded in radio emission but was then reenergized when shock waves compressed the cloud. This caused the cloud to once again shine at radio frequencies, as we reported back in 2015.

Original story – here

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