The two groups of galaxies are 100 trillion times the mass of the Sun

The scientists observed two groups of galaxies rushing at each other at 4.6 million kilometers per hour, preparing to form a large cluster.

Most galaxies do not exist in isolation. Instead, gravity pulls them together into small groups or clusters with hundreds of thousands of members. Sometimes, these sets continue to be pulled back by gravity, collide and merge.

NGC 6338 may be the most violent collision and merger between two galaxy groups.(Photo: NASA).

With data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton spacecraft (ESA), the Metrewave Giant Radio Telescope in India and the Apache Point Observatory in the US, The researchers found that two groups of galaxies were rushing at each other at a speed of about 6.4 million kilometers per hour. This is probably the most violent collision between two galactic groups ever observed, IB Times reported on 17/12 reported.

Two groups of galaxies, collectively known as NGC 6338, are about 380 million light-years from Earth and have a total mass of about 100 trillion times that of the Sun. Studying NGC 6338 can help astronomers better understand the evolution and development of galaxy clusters.

The team estimates that 83% of NGC 6338 is dark matter, 16% is hot gas and only 1% is a star. This suggests that the two galaxy groups will become a giant cluster in the future. Once merged, it will continue to attract other galaxies thanks to gravity.

This is not the first study of NGC 6338. According to previous studies, around the center of two groups of galaxies are regions of low-temperature gas that emit X-rays called "cold cores". This information helps astronomers reconstruct the shape of NGC 6338.

New data from Chandra and XMM-Newton shows that some of the gas regions of the cold cores seem to be subjected to shock waves from the collision. Computer models used to predict this phenomenon. However, this is the first time scientists have been able to observe in detail the phenomenon of gas being heated during a galaxy merger. This will cause a certain amount of hot gas to not cool to create new stars.

Another common source of heat in galactic groups and clusters is the energy emitted by the high-speed stream of particles emitted by supermassive black holes. However, scientists do not see signs of these particles in NGC 6338.