NOVA: Astronomical Airplane Trails Do Not Fade But Light Up

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NOVA: Astronomical Airplane Trails Do Not Fade But Light Up

Post by bystander » Thu Oct 05, 2017 3:07 pm

Astronomical Airplane Trails Do Not Fade But Light Up
Netherlands Research School for Astronomy (NOVA) | 2017 Oct 04
Gasparin_airplane_trails.jpg
The image shows a galaxy in orange that moves to the left and leaves a gas
trail. The trail seems to extinguish slowly, but lights up again near the second,
white-yellow galaxy. Most white dots in the image are complete galaxies.
(c) Francesco de Gasperin (Leiden University)

An international team of astronomers led by Francesco de Gasperin (Leiden University, the Netherlands) has witnessed an unexpected phenomenon in a merger of a two clusters of galaxies. The astronomers discovered a gas trail that slowly extinguished, but then lit up again. It is unclear where the energy for the rejuvenation of this trail comes from. The researchers publish their findings in Science Advances.

The astronomers investigated Abell 1033. This is a cluster of galaxies consisting of two smaller clusters that are in the process of merging. Abell 1033 is located in the northern constellation of Leo Minor (near Ursa Major). Clusters of galaxies are the largest structures in the universe. They can contain hundreds to thousands of galaxies similar to our Milky Way. Smaller clusters can merge together to form a larger cluster.

The astronomers observed that an individual galaxy in Abell 1033 leaves a trail of gas as it traveled through the cluster. On astronomical scale, such a trail resembles the trail of colored smoke behind a stunt plane.

The astronomers had expected that the gas trail, like the ones behind a stunt plane, would slowly fade and eventually disappear. To their astonishment they saw that the end of the gas trail was brighter than the middle. ...

Gentle reenergization of electrons in merging galaxy clusters - Francesco de Gasperin et al
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