{"id":63995,"date":"2024-10-04T09:34:15","date_gmt":"2024-10-04T09:34:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/246c619c-a07c-4805-850e-3bf0cd923051"},"modified":"2024-10-04T10:39:44","modified_gmt":"2024-10-04T10:39:44","slug":"crossing-the-cosmic-streams-astronomers-see-galaxy-clusters-hot-gas-tails-tangle-in-celestial-dance","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/rss_feed\/crossing-the-cosmic-streams-astronomers-see-galaxy-clusters-hot-gas-tails-tangle-in-celestial-dance\/","title":{"rendered":"Crossing the cosmic streams. Astronomers see galaxy cluster&#8217;s hot gas tails tangle in celestial dance"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"rssexcerpt\"> <\/p><p class=\"rssauthor\">By Iain Todd\n      <\/p><p class=\"rssbyline\">Published: Friday, 04 October 2024 at 09:34 AM<\/p><hr class=\"no-tts wp-block-separator\"\/><?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\" standalone=\"yes\"?>\n<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><body><p>Astronomers have observed a galaxy within a cluster that has two streams of superheated gas crossing one another, and which could lead to the creation of a new cosmic structure.<\/p><p>NASA\u2019s Chandra X-ray Observatory found a stream of hot gas over 1.6 million <a href=\"https:\/\/www.skyatnightmagazine.com\/space-science\/lightyear\">lightyears<\/a> long trailing behind a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.skyatnightmagazine.com\/space-science\/a-guide-to-galaxies\">galaxy<\/a> within <a href=\"https:\/\/www.skyatnightmagazine.com\/astrophotography\/galaxies\/galaxy-clusters-groups\">galaxy cluster<\/a> Zwicky 8338 (Z8338)<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full has-lightbox\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Image showing tails of gas streaming from a galaxy in galaxy cluster Zwicky 8338. Click to expand. Credit: X-ray: NASA\/CXC\/Xiamen Univ.\/C. Ge; Optical: DESI collaboration; Image Processing: NASA\/CXC\/SAO\/N. Wolk<\/figcaption><\/figure><p>This tail is almost like that of a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.skyatnightmagazine.com\/space-science\/a-guide-to-comets\">comet<\/a>, trailing behind the galaxy and produced by galactic material being stripped away by hot gas through which the galaxy is moving in deep space.<\/p><p>What&#8217;s more, the tail has split into two streams, and the streams are crossing one another.<\/p><div class=\"wp-block-columns highlight-box is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-layout-4 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\"><div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-heading\"><strong><strong>More amazing Chandra observations<\/strong><\/strong><\/h3><ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.skyatnightmagazine.com\/space-science\/chandra-x-ray-observatory-timelapses-crab-nebula-cassiopeia-a\"><em><strong>Chandra&#8217;s stellar explosion timelapse<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.skyatnightmagazine.com\/news\/chandra-x-ray-centre-milky-way\"><em><strong>Milky Way&#8217;s black hole in x-ray<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.skyatnightmagazine.com\/news\/death-star-black-hole-jets-change-direction\"><em><strong>Death Star black hole<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1303\" src=\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2024\/05\/sagittarius-a-black-hole-chimney-vent.jpg\" alt=\"Image of the region near the centre of the Milky Way galaxy showing the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A*, a chimney and a vent funnelling cosmic material outwards. Captured by the Chandra X-Ray Observatory and the MeerKAT telescope. Credit: X-ray: NASA\/CXC\/Univ. of Chicago\/S.C. Mackey et al.; Radio: NRF\/SARAO\/MeerKAT; Image Processing: NASA\/CXC\/SAO\/N. Wolk\" class=\"wp-image-155326\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Credit: X-ray: NASA\/CXC\/Univ. of Chicago\/S.C. Mackey et al.; Radio: NRF\/SARAO\/MeerKAT; Image Processing: NASA\/CXC\/SAO\/N. Wolk<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Galaxy cluster Z8338 explained<\/strong><\/h2><p>Galaxy cluster Z8338 is 670 million lightyears from Earth and the product of two smaller galaxy clusters having collided a long time ago.<\/p><p>This merging motion has produced a chaotic mixture of individual galaxies, hot cosmic gas and powerful shock waves.<\/p><p>In the composite image below, X-rays from the Chandra X-ray Observatory in purple show the multimillion-degree gas.<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full has-lightbox\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1075\" src=\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2024\/10\/Chandra-Z8338-labelled.jpg\" alt=\"Labelled image showing tails of gas streaming from a galaxy in galaxy cluster Zwicky 8338. Credit: X-ray: NASA\/CXC\/Xiamen Univ.\/C. Ge; Optical: DESI collaboration; Image Processing: NASA\/CXC\/SAO\/N. Wolk\" class=\"wp-image-162915\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Labelled image showing tails of gas streaming from a galaxy in galaxy cluster Zwicky 8338. Click to expand. Credit: X-ray: NASA\/CXC\/Xiamen Univ.\/C. Ge; Optical: DESI collaboration; Image Processing: NASA\/CXC\/SAO\/N. Wolk<\/figcaption><\/figure><p>Chandra data shows this gas trailing behind the moving galaxies.<\/p><p>Optical data from the Dark Energy Survey at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile shows the individual galaxies.<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full has-lightbox\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1075\" src=\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2024\/10\/Z8338-x-ray.jpg\" alt=\"X-ray image showing tails from a galaxy in galaxy cluster Zwicky 8338. Credit: X-ray: NASA\/CXC\/Xiamen Univ.\/C. Ge; Optical: DESI collaboration; Image Processing: NASA\/CXC\/SAO\/N. Wolk\" class=\"wp-image-162919\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">X-ray image showing tails from a galaxy in galaxy cluster Zwicky 8338. Click to expand. Credit: X-ray: NASA\/CXC\/Xiamen Univ.\/C. Ge; Optical: DESI collaboration; Image Processing: NASA\/CXC\/SAO\/N. Wolk<\/figcaption><\/figure><p>The vertical tail in the image of Z8338 is 800,000 lightyears long, and astronomers think the gas in that tail is being stripped away as the galaxy moves through the cluster.<\/p><p>The head of the tail is a cloud of cool gas 100,000 light-years away from the galaxy, and this tail is also separated into two parts.<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full has-lightbox\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1075\" src=\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2024\/10\/Z8338-optical.jpg\" alt=\"Optical image showing galaxy cluster Zwicky 8338. Credit: X-ray: NASA\/CXC\/Xiamen Univ.\/C. Ge; Optical: DESI collaboration; Image Processing: NASA\/CXC\/SAO\/N. Wolk\" class=\"wp-image-162918\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Optical image showing galaxy cluster Zwicky 8338. Click to expand. Credit: X-ray: NASA\/CXC\/Xiamen Univ.\/C. Ge; Optical: DESI collaboration; Image Processing: NASA\/CXC\/SAO\/N. Wolk<\/figcaption><\/figure><p>Astronomers infer the detachment of the tail from the large galaxy was caused by another, longer tail crossing through it.<\/p><p>This suggests that a cloud of detached gas such as this could survive for at least 30 million years: enough time for new stars and planets to form within it.<\/p><p><strong><em>Read the full paper at <a href=\"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/mnras\/article\/525\/1\/1365\/7239302\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">academic.oup.com\/mnras\/article\/525\/1\/1365\/7239302<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n<hr class=\"no-tts wp-block-separator\"\/>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Iain Todd Published: Friday, 04 October 2024 at 09:34 AM Astronomers have observed a galaxy within a cluster that has two streams of superheated gas crossing one another, and which could lead to the creation of a new cosmic structure. NASA\u2019s Chandra X-ray Observatory found a stream of hot gas over 1.6 million lightyears [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":63996,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"3"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2024\/10\/crossing-the-cosmic-streams-astronomers-see-galaxy-clusters-hot-gas-tails-tangle-in-celestial-dance.jpg",1200,1075,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2024\/10\/crossing-the-cosmic-streams-astronomers-see-galaxy-clusters-hot-gas-tails-tangle-in-celestial-dance-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2024\/10\/crossing-the-cosmic-streams-astronomers-see-galaxy-clusters-hot-gas-tails-tangle-in-celestial-dance-300x269.jpg",300,269,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2024\/10\/crossing-the-cosmic-streams-astronomers-see-galaxy-clusters-hot-gas-tails-tangle-in-celestial-dance-768x688.jpg",768,688,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2024\/10\/crossing-the-cosmic-streams-astronomers-see-galaxy-clusters-hot-gas-tails-tangle-in-celestial-dance-1024x917.jpg",800,716,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2024\/10\/crossing-the-cosmic-streams-astronomers-see-galaxy-clusters-hot-gas-tails-tangle-in-celestial-dance.jpg",1200,1075,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2024\/10\/crossing-the-cosmic-streams-astronomers-see-galaxy-clusters-hot-gas-tails-tangle-in-celestial-dance.jpg",1200,1075,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Iain Todd Published: Friday, 04 October 2024 at 09:34 AM Astronomers have observed a galaxy within a cluster that has two streams of superheated gas crossing one another, and which could lead to the creation of a new cosmic structure. NASA\u2019s Chandra X-ray Observatory found a stream of hot gas over 1.6 million lightyears&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/63995"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63995"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}