By Dean Murray via SWNS
Space scientists have observed five galaxies colliding at a staggering 2 million mph.
The dramatic impact has been observed in unprecedented detail in Stephan’s Quintet, a nearby galaxy group first sighted almost 150 years ago.
Researchers say it sparked an immensely powerful shock similar to a “sonic boom from a jet fighter” – the likes of which are among the most striking phenomena in the Universe.
The collision was spotted by a team of scientists using the first observations from the new $20 million Euro William Herschel Telescope Enhanced Area Velocity Explorer (WEAVE) wide-field spectrograph in La Palma, Spain.
The discovery of NGC 7318b was observed by a team of more than 60 astronomers and has been published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (RSG).
RSG said in a statement that Stephan’s Quintet represents “a galactic crossroad where past collisions between galaxies have left behind a complex field of debris”, which has now been reawakened by the passage of the galaxy, NGC 7318b.
Dr. Gavin Dalton, WEAVE principal investigator at RAL Space and the University of Oxford, said: “It’s fantastic to see the level of detail uncovered here by WEAVE.
“As well as the details of the shock and the unfolding collision that we see in Stephan’s Quintet, these observations provide a remarkable perspective on what may be happening in the formation and evolution of the barely resolved faint galaxies that we see at the limits of our current capabilities.”
Lead researcher Dr. Marina Arnaudova, of the University of Hertfordshire, said: “Since its discovery in 1877, Stephan’s Quintet has captivated astronomers, because it represents a galactic crossroad where past collisions between galaxies have left behind a complex field of debris.
“Dynamical activity in this galaxy group has now been reawakened by a galaxy smashing through it at an incredible speed of over 2 million mph (3.2 million km/h), leading to an immensely powerful shock, much like a sonic boom from a jet fighter.”
