Spectacular image of a galaxy with a 'tail' about to collide with the Milky Way

Australia's state-of-the-art radio observation system ASKAP and Parkers has captured the most complete radio image of the Small Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way Earth-containing galaxy. It is located just 210,000 light-years away and belongs to the southern constellation of the constellation Do Quyen.

The Small Magellanic Cloud is only 210,000 light-years away.

Sci-News reports that the new image provides the most detailed and accurate view yet of neutral hydrogen emission from the Small Magellanic Cloud, which Dr Nickolas Pingel from the School of Astrophysics and Astrophysics says of the Australian National University, is an important step towards understanding the role of hydrogen in galactic evolution.

For example, hydrogen will interact with supernovae, stars that run out of fuel and explode at the "end of life", leaving small holes in the gas.

This image is the clearest radio data of the Small Magellanic Cloud, exposing even the most delicate structures, making it possible for astronomers to understand what this neighbor contains and has lived through such history. how.

The Small Magellanic Cloud is one of the closest and most distinctive satellite galaxies of the Milky Way. It orbits another satellite galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud. This interaction creates a long "tail" called a Magellanic stream. This structure is thought to be able to collide with the Earth-containing galaxy in the next 50 million years.