{"id":796253,"date":"2025-05-21T10:18:04","date_gmt":"2025-05-21T15:18:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=796253"},"modified":"2025-05-21T10:18:04","modified_gmt":"2025-05-21T15:18:04","slug":"new-images-show-a-pair-of-galaxies-in-a-deep-space-battle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=796253","title":{"rendered":"New images show a pair of galaxies in a deep-space battle"},"content":{"rendered":"


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The Atacama Large Millimeter\/submillimeter Array (ALMA) took this image showing the molecular gas content of a pair of galaxies involved in a cosmic collision. The galaxy on the right hosts a quasar \u2013 a supermassive black hole accreting material from its surroundings and releasing intense radiation \u2013 which is shooting directly at the other galaxy.\u00a0Astronomers used the X-shooter instrument at ESO\u2019s Very Large Telescope (VLT) to detect the quasar\u2019s light as it passes through an invisible halo of gas surrounding the galaxy on the left. In doing so, they could observe the damage this radiation caused, disrupting clouds of gas and hampering the other galaxy\u2019s ability to form new stars. Image via ALMA (ESO\/NAOJ\/NRAO)\/S. Balashev and P. Noterdaeme et al.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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  • Cosmic joust<\/em> is the name astronomers gave to this pair of galaxies.<\/strong> They\u2019re locked in a war as they circle each other.<\/li>\n
  • One galaxy has a supermassive black hole at its center<\/strong> that\u2019s powering a quasar. This quasar is piercing the other galaxy with intense radiation.<\/li>\n
  • The galaxy hit by the quasar<\/strong> will now form fewer stars because the radiation has disrupted its clouds of gas and dust.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    ESO published this original story on May 21, 2025. Edits by EarthSky.<\/p>\n

    A pair of galaxies in deep-space battle<\/h3>\n

    For the first time, astronomers have witnessed a violent cosmic collision in which one galaxy pierces another with intense radiation. Their results, published May 21, 2025, in the peer-reviewed journal Nature<\/em>, show this radiation dampens the wounded galaxy\u2019s ability to form new stars. This new study combined observations from both the European Southern Observatory\u2019s Very Large Telescope (VLT) and the Atacama Large Millimeter\/submillimeter Array (ALMA), revealing all the gory details of this galactic battle.<\/p>\n

    In the distant depths of the universe, two galaxies are locked in a thrilling war. Over and over, they charge toward each other at speeds of 500 km\/s (1.1 million mph) on a violent collision course, only to land a glancing blow before retreating and winding up for another round. Co-author Pasquier Noterdaeme, a researcher at the Institut d\u2019Astrophysique de Paris, France, and the French-Chilean Laboratory for Astronomy in Chile, drew a comparison to a medieval sport: <\/p>\n

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    We hence call this system the \u2018cosmic joust\u2019.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

    But these galactic knights aren\u2019t exactly chivalrous. And one has a very unfair advantage: it uses a quasar to pierce its opponent with a spear of radiation.<\/p>\n

    A quasar spears a galaxy<\/h3>\n

    Quasars are the bright cores of some distant galaxies that are powered by supermassive black holes. They release huge amounts of radiation. Both quasars and galaxy mergers used to be far more common in the universe\u2019s first few billion years. To observe them, astronomers peer into the distant past with powerful telescopes. The light from this \u2018cosmic joust\u2019 has taken over 11 billion years to reach us. So we see it as it was when the universe was only 18% of its current age.<\/p>\n

    Co-author Sergei Balashev, who is a researcher at the Ioffe Institute in St Petersburg, Russia, said: <\/p>\n

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    Here we see for the first time the effect of a quasar\u2019s radiation directly on the internal structure of the gas in an otherwise regular galaxy.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n