Astronomers Witness Gigantic Galaxy Collision
Nov 15, 2017 0:28:10 GMT
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Post by Heimdallr on Nov 15, 2017 0:28:10 GMT
Galaxy collisions are the largest and most intricate choreography of matter ever performed in the universe. Billions of stars swirl together and fly apart, supermassive black holes collide and combine, and nebulas of gas collapse into thousands of new stars. It's a dance that takes billions of years to complete, and it's happening thousands of times over all across the universe.
Using the ALMA radio telescope in Chile, scientists have spotted what they believe to be the largest galaxy merger ever discovered. The two galaxies, collectively called ADFS-27, are both incredibly bright and massive, what scientists call 'superluminous starburst galaxies.' They are also ancient, situated 12.7 billion light-years away, making them among the oldest galaxies in the universe.
"Finding just one hyper-luminous starburst galaxy is remarkable in itself. Finding two of these rare galaxies in such close proximity is truly astounding," said Dominik Riechers, lead author of a new study in the Astrophysical Journal. "Considering their extreme distance from Earth and the frenetic star-forming activity inside each, it's possible we may be witnessing the most intense galaxy merger known to date."... More ... (Popular Mechanics/MSN - 14 Nov 2017)
Using the ALMA radio telescope in Chile, scientists have spotted what they believe to be the largest galaxy merger ever discovered. The two galaxies, collectively called ADFS-27, are both incredibly bright and massive, what scientists call 'superluminous starburst galaxies.' They are also ancient, situated 12.7 billion light-years away, making them among the oldest galaxies in the universe.
"Finding just one hyper-luminous starburst galaxy is remarkable in itself. Finding two of these rare galaxies in such close proximity is truly astounding," said Dominik Riechers, lead author of a new study in the Astrophysical Journal. "Considering their extreme distance from Earth and the frenetic star-forming activity inside each, it's possible we may be witnessing the most intense galaxy merger known to date."... More ... (Popular Mechanics/MSN - 14 Nov 2017)
Astronomers Witness Gigantic Galaxy Collision
yeah that would suck. But in case of the other collision we have no evidence of living things anywhere else so most likely no one was hurt by it.
