Views of a massive galaxy cluster Abell 2256 have been captured by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, ESA’s XMM-Newton and three radio telescopes (LOFAR, the GMRT and the VLA). See a composite of all the views here.
Credit: NASA/CXC/A. Hobart
Credit: NASA/CXC/A. Hobart
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00:00Visit Chandra's Beautiful Universe
00:05ABEL 2256
00:10Astronomers have captured a spectacular and ongoing collision
00:14between at least three galaxy clusters.
00:17Data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory,
00:21ESO's XMM-Newton,
00:23and a trio of radio telescopes
00:25are helping astronomers sort out what is happening
00:28in this jumbled scene.
00:31Galaxy clusters are some of the largest structures in the universe
00:34and contain a mixture of galaxies, hot gas, and dark matter.
00:40Over time, these colossal objects can collide
00:43and merge with each other through their gravitational pull.
00:47This is the main way that galaxy clusters can grow
00:50into the gigantic cosmic edifices seen today.
00:54ABEL 2256, located 780 million light-years from Earth,
00:59is a scene where this process is taking place.
01:03Astronomers studying this object are trying to tease out
01:06what has led to this unusual-looking structure.
01:09Each telescope tells a different part of the story.
01:13For example, Chandra and XMM-Newton
01:16can see the multi-million-degree gas from the clusters.
01:20The radio emission in this system arises from an even more complex set of sources.
01:25The first are the galaxies themselves,
01:28where the radio signal is generated by particles blasting away in jets
01:32from supermassive black holes at their centers.
01:35Radio waves are also coming from a huge filamentary structure,
01:39which was likely generated when the collision created shock waves
01:42and accelerated particles in the gas.
01:45Astronomers will continue to study this complex system
01:49to untangle this knot of galaxy clusters
01:52and the details of the physics taking place there.
01:54This will help us learn more about how these cosmic giants
01:58came to inhabit the universe today.
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