Latest news with #galaxycluster
Gizmodo
4 days ago
- Science
- Gizmodo
Deepest-Ever Field Image of Giant Galaxy Cluster Is a Brutal Reminder of Your Cosmic Insignificance
When it comes to deep space observations, our cosmological insignificance seems to grow with the resolution of our telescopes' cameras. In the latest advance, astronomers constructed the deepest-ever images of Abell 3667, a massive galaxy cluster located 700 million light-years from Earth—and most of the tiny dots you see represent entire galaxies. But the latest images of Abell 3667 also offer 'whispering evidence of past galactic interactions,' which astronomers document in detail in a paper published today in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. The team, led by astronomers from Brown University, caught Abell 3677 at a particularly lustrous moment in space-time, during a merger of two of the clusters' brightest galaxies. The stellar union, resembling a starry bridge stretching across the cluster, generated powerful gravitational bursts that yanked away the occasional stray star from other galaxies. Together, these lone stars emit a faint glow known as intracluster light (ICL)—and it's this phenomenon that researchers are investigating to explore Abell 3677's past. Specifically, it appears likely that Abell 3667 also formed from the rapid merger of two galaxy clusters, which previous X-ray and radio observations had predicted. This latest observation, however, represents the first ever optical evidence to support this idea. 'This is the first time a feature of this scale and size has been found in a local galaxy cluster,' Anthony Englert, study lead author, said in a statement. 'We knew that it was possible for a bridge like this to form between two galaxies, but it hadn't been documented anywhere before now. It was a huge surprise that we were able to image such a faint feature.' The team had an unusually long observation period for this project, which partly enabled them to construct such a detailed image. In addition to the intracluster light, the researchers captured faint, wispy puffs of cosmic dust called integrated flux nebulae, seen as bluish ribbons of light streaking across the image. 'It was just a happy coincidence that so many people had imaged Abell 3667 over the years, and we were able to stack all of those observations together,' Englert noted. The researchers have some outstanding questions about Abell 3677 and, more importantly, intracluster light. Fortunately, their timing couldn't have been more impeccable; with the Rubin Telescope officially up and running, astronomers are now better equipped to further probe these questions. 'Rubin is going to be able to image ICL in much the same way as we did here, but it's going to do it for every single local galaxy cluster in the southern sky,' Englert said. 'What we did is just a small sliver of what Rubin is going to be able to do. It's really going to blow the study of the ICL wide open.' Essentially, if this new image doesn't make you feel small, you might want to wait for the soon-to-come Rubin versions of this image. In fact, if Englert is right, we'll be seeing multiple versions of this image, and in higher resolution, too. So, for better or worse, we humans will only get smaller from here.
Yahoo
30-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Scientists discover ancient radio signals from distant galaxy cluster
Astronomers studying a distant galaxy cluster stumbled upon ancient radio signals that might hold clues to the formation of the early universe. While studying the distant galaxy cluster known as SpARCS1049, astronomers detected faint mysterious radio waves, according to a study published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters and available on the pre-print server Xrxiv. The discovered radio waves, which took 10 billion years to reach Earth, originated from a vast region of space filled with high-energy particles and magnetic fields. These vast clouds of high-energy particles are known as a mini-halo. A mini-halo has never been detected this deep into space before, according to the study. Astronomers Make Groundbreaking Discovery About Largest Comet Ever Observed Flying Through Deep Space Mini-halos are described in the study as faint groups of charged particles. These groups are known to emit both radio and X-ray waves. Mini-halos are typically found in clusters between galaxies. Read On The Fox News App Roland Timmerman of the Institute for Computational Cosmology of Durham University and co-author of the study said in a statement in how these particles are important for the creation of our universe. "It's astonishing to find such a strong radio signal at this distance," Timmerman said. "It means these energetic particles and the processes creating them have been shaping galaxy clusters for nearly the entire history of the universe." Scientists Detect Mysterious Radio Waves Coming From Beneath Antarctica's Ice The astronomers analyzed data from the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) radio telescope. The LOFAR is made up of 100,000 small antennas across eight European countries, according to the study. The team of astronomers believes there are two causes for the makeup of these mini-halos. According to the study, the first explanation is supermassive black holes found at the heart of galaxies. These black holes can release high-energy particles into space. The astronomers are perplexed as to how these particles would escape such a powerful black hole to create these clusters. The second explanation, according to the study, is cosmic particle collisions. These cosmic particle collisions occur when charged particles filled with hot plasma collide at near-light speeds. These collisions smash apart, allowing the high-energy particles to be observed from Earth. According to the study, astronomers now believe that this discovery suggests that either black holes or particle collisions have been energizing galaxies earlier than previously believed. New telescopes being developed like the Square Kilometer Array will eventually let astronomers detect even more faint signals. Julie Hlavacek-Larrondo from the University of Montreal and co-lead author of the study said in a statement she believes this is just the beginning to the wonders of space. "We are just scratching the surface of how energetic the early universe really was," Hlavacek-Larrondo said in the statement. "This discovery gives us a new window into how galaxy clusters grow and evolve, driven by both black holes and high-energy particle physics."Original article source: Scientists discover ancient radio signals from distant galaxy cluster
