Detects a shock wave 60 times larger than the Milky Way

Scientists have discovered that the collision caused a shock wave 60 times larger than the entire Milky Way and about 100,000 light-years across.

Located about 730 million light-years from Earth, Abell 3667 is a chaotic galaxy cluster. According to Live Science, Abell 3667 contains more than 550 individual galaxies that frequently collide with each other.

The shock wave is 60 times larger than the Milky Way.

Most telescopes are not capable of observing this event, but the cosmic collision created a large disturbance in the region that caused a huge shock wave to erupt and was visible only in the radio wavelengths.

A new study published in the scientific journal Astronomy & Astrophysics has produced the most detailed image ever taken of this massive shock wave. Using the MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa, the researchers imaged the radio components of the shock wave. They found that the structure of this shock wave was much more complex than previously observed.

'The shock waves act like giant particle accelerators and accelerate electrons close to the speed of light. The shock waves are connected by a complex model of matter filaments that track the positions of giant magnetic field lines and areas where electrons are accelerated," said scientist Francesco de Gasperin.

According to the researchers, the shock wave first erupted about 1 billion years ago, when the two galaxy clusters that make up Abell 3667 collided for the first time. Galaxy clusters are the most gravitationally bound structures in the universe.

As the shock wave blasted electrons into space at close to the speed of light, the particles would rip through the magnetic field in the region, emitting radio waves observed today. The researchers found that each of these radio waves traveling at more than 5.3 million kilometers per second, about 13 million light-years apart, is 60 times larger in size than the entire Milky Way. and is about 100,000 light-years across.

'This was a powerful explosion, and for astronomers it was a spectacular sight,' the researchers said.