Your health! Ring in the New Year with a brilliant Champagne Cluster image
A galaxy cluster discovered on New Year's Eve 2020 glows in a new image from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory.
x-ray: NASA/CXC/UCDavis/F. Burik et al.; Optic: Legacy Survey/DECaLS/BASS/MzLS; Image processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/P. Edmonds and L. Frattare
Toast to a different orbit around the Sun with NASA's new image of a glittering cluster of galaxies, appropriately named the Champagne Cluster.
The object was first discovered on December 31, 2020. But the new image combines data from NASA. Chandra X-ray Observatory— which sees the superheated gas of merging clusters as purple bubbles — and an array of ground-based optical telescopes that create a stellar background.
When the Champagne Cluster was first observed, astronomers thought the celestial object, formally named RM J130558.9+263048.4, was a single galaxy cluster, but subsequent observations have revealed that it is actually two interacting clusters. In total, more than 100 galaxies are involved in the merger, as well as enough gas with temperatures of several million degrees to outweigh them all.
About supporting science journalism
If you enjoyed this article, please consider supporting our award-winning journalism. subscription. By purchasing a subscription, you help ensure a future of influential stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.
Scientists have two theories to explain the special appearance of the champagne cluster. Both of them were stated in study published earlier this year V Astrophysical Journal.
The first hypothesis is that the two clusters first collided more than two billion years ago, zipped past each other, and then became trapped in a gravitational dance that would eventually cause them to collide with each other again. According to the second theory, the collision of the clusters occurred only 400 million years ago, and now the two objects are rapidly moving away from each other. In any case, the researchers say, the clusters collided with each other. almost head-on.
The Champagne Cluster is a particularly interesting object for astronomers wishing to understand dark matterwhich is invisible to all telescopes, but exerts a gravitational pull on everything around it. Scientists believe this mysterious material is unlikely to interact with itself, but rather massive collisions between galaxy clusters such as the Champagne cluster or a similar object, dubbed Bullet Cluster may be exactly the place where you can notice his strange behavior.
It's time to stand up for science
If you liked this article, I would like to ask for your support. Scientific American has been a champion of science and industry for 180 years, and now may be the most critical moment in that two-century history.
I was Scientific American I have been a subscriber since I was 12, and it has helped shape my view of the world. science always educates and delights me, instills a sense of awe in front of our vast and beautiful universe. I hope it does the same for you.
If you subscribe to Scientific Americanyou help ensure our coverage focuses on meaningful research and discovery; that we have the resources to report on decisions that threaten laboratories across the US; and that we support both aspiring and working scientists at a time when the value of science itself too often goes unrecognized.
In return you receive important news, fascinating podcastsbrilliant infographics, newsletters you can't missmust-watch videos challenging gamesand the world's best scientific articles and reporting. You can even give someone a subscription.
There has never been a more important time for us to stand up and show why science matters. I hope you will support us in this mission.
