Astrophysicists Capture First-Ever ‘Cosmic Joust’ as Galaxies Clash in Epic Battle!

Astronomers have made an exciting discovery: two galaxies are locked in a cosmic “duel.” This phenomenon, observed from Earth, shows the galaxies racing toward each other at over 1.1 million miles per hour (1.8 million kilometers per hour). One galaxy is bombarding the other with intense radiation, disrupting its ability to form new stars. “That’s why we call it a ‘cosmic joust,’” said Pasquier Noterdaeme, a researcher at the Paris Institute of Astrophysics.

The findings, published in the journal Nature, provide a glimpse into the early universe, about 11 billion years ago, when such mergers and star formations were rampant.

Using advanced telescopes, the researchers identified the “attacking” galaxy’s radiation originating from a bright quasar powered by a supermassive black hole. This black hole draws in matter, heating it to extreme temperatures, which creates bright jets of energy that can affect nearby galaxies.

Each pulse of radiation from this quasar is about a thousand times more powerful than the light from our own Milky Way. This energy causes hydrogen clouds in the victim galaxy to disperse, making it harder for new stars to form. While stars typically form from large clumps of gas, the radiation disperses these clouds, diminishing their mass.

Researchers like Sergei Balashev, from the Ioffe Institute, noted that this observation is groundbreaking. It’s the first time scientists have been able to see the effect of a quasar on the molecular gas of a nearby galaxy directly—something that was only theorized before.

What makes this observation even more fascinating is the rarity of such active quasars. There are only about 1,000 known quasars from the universe’s early days, according to NASA. Balashev described the challenge of identifying two galaxies so closely nestled together in vast cosmic distances, akin to finding “a needle in a haystack.”

Interestingly, scientists believe that galaxy mergers and the activity of quasars were much more common in the universe’s youth. Dong-Woo Kim, an astrophysicist with the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, explained that the universe was denser back then, which facilitated more frequent mergers. He also pointed out that while galaxy collisions are still happening, they’re less common than they were billions of years ago. Our own Milky Way is predicted to merge with the Andromeda galaxy in a few billion years, but it’s still unclear how frequently events like the current cosmic joust occur.

This research not only sheds light on the past but also enhances our understanding of galaxy evolution. As astronomers continue to explore these phenomena, they hope to answer essential questions about how galaxies form and grow through time.

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