Astronomers have recorded one of the most powerful shock waves ever seen. It was caused by the galaxy NGC 7318b, which collided with four of its neighbors, moving at a speed of 3.2 million km/h.
The entry of galaxy NGC 7318b into the system created an extremely powerful shock front, similar to “the sonic boom of a fighter jet”.
Researchers hope that by studying it, they can understand more about the violent and chaotic interactions between galaxies.
“It’s essentially a huge intergalactic debris field. NGC7318b entered the debris field and compressed the plasma and gas within it. In doing so, it re-energized the plasma, causing it to glow brightly at radio frequencies and likely triggered star formation,” the scientists said, reporting Noi.mdreading .
By separating the system’s light into its component parts, the spectrograph tracked the debris fragments, the birth of new stars, and the traces of ionized gas that were left behind by the force of the collision. All these elements were agitated by a shock front that propagated at hypersonic speeds.
Astronomers are expected to be able to gain valuable information about how collisions and mergers after the Big Bang shaped the galaxies we see today and what the system might look like in the future.
