Titanic Merger of Galaxy Clusters Revealed

[zavvy]

<b>Titanic Merger of Galaxy Clusters Revealed </b><br /><br />LINK<br /><br />One of the hottest, most energetic mergers of two colossal galaxy clusters has been imaged in exquisite detail by an X-ray observatory in space, astronomers announced on Thursday. The collision is one of the most powerful cosmic events ever witnessed by astronomers.<br /><br />The observation showcases how all structures in the universe are thought to grow and bolsters recent observations that the largest structures in the universe are still evolving.<br /><br />An international team of astronomers led by Patrick Henry of the University of Hawaii used Europe's XMM-Newton observatory to study a massive galaxy cluster called Abell 754. The cluster is relatively close to Earth at 800 million light-years away and, unlike other energetic mergers, does not lie in the plane of the Milky Way, making it easier to observe.<br /><br />The cluster spans 3 million light-years across and, if it were visible in the sky, it would cover half of the Moon. It appears to be made up of two smaller galaxy clusters, one crammed with 1000 galaxies and the other with 300. Shock waves caused by the merger, which may have begun 300 million years ago. has heated gas in the clusters to extreme temperatures - about 100 million °C.<br /><br /><br />Second pass <br /><br /><br />Astronomers took X-ray spectra of the merged cluster and measured its temperature, pressure, and density. The observations led the team to deduce that the two clusters approached one another from a different direction than had previously been thought. They also reasoned that one of the clusters had already made one pass through the second.<br /><br />"Now, gravity will pull the remnants of this first cluster back towards the core of the second," says team member Alexis Finoguenov of the Max-Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching, Germany. "Over the next few billi

 

[newtonian]

zavvy - Interesting. The IGM heated by shock waves- would that be similar to sound waves?<br /><br />I assume those superclusters are heading away from us and away from the Virgo supercluster, or the Great Attractor?<br /><br />Either way, this does relate to the upcoming merger of Milky Way and Andromeda.

 

[kelle]

Hmm... interesting. Thanks for the link!

 

[diogenes]

The Milky Way and Andromeda merger will probably follow the same dynamic.<br /><br />Each galaxy will pass through the other several times. Over millions of years they will settle into a new galactic formation.

 

[spayss]

How does this have anything to do with the merger of the Milky Way and Adromeda? Our galaxy and Adromeda are individual galaxies in the same speck of the universe.

 

[jcdenton]

Maybe he means the effect on our galaxies when they merge will be similar to that of this galaxy cluster merger. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[spayss]

Individual galaxies colliding are not indicative of any macro phenomena in the Universe. Nothing to do with the expansion or changing shape of the Universe. Two big ocean liners can be on course for collision because of some ocean current but that collision is not refected on a smaller scale when two people on one of the ships happen to bump into eachother.