Tour: NASA's Chandra Finds Galaxy Cluster That Crosses the Streams

Astronomers using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory have found a galaxy cluster has two pairs of streams of superheated gas crossing one another. This result shows that, unlike a famous line from a popular series of movies, crossing the streams does not necessarily end in disaster. In fact, it may lead to the creation of new structures.

Researchers have discovered a pair of enormous, comet-like tails of hot gas — spanning over 1.6 million light-years long — trailing behind a galaxy within the galaxy cluster called Zwicky 8338, or Z8338 for short. This tail was spawned as the galaxy had some of its gas stripped off by the hot gas it is hurtling through.

What makes this remarkable is that this is the second pair of tails trailing behind a galaxy in this system. Previously, astronomers discovered a shorter pair of tails from a different galaxy nearby to this latest one. This newer and longer set of tails was only seen because of a deeper observation with Chandra that revealed the fainter X-rays.

Astronomers also found evidence that the streams trailing behind the speeding galaxies have crossed one another, causing the shorter pair of tails to be detached from the galaxy they are trailing.

These galaxies are in motion because they were part of two galaxy clusters that collided with each other to create Z8338. This makes Z8338 a chaotic landscape of galaxies, superheated gas, and shock waves, which are similar to sonic booms created by supersonic jets.

Why is this important? Z8338 is helping to teach astronomers how these galaxy clusters, which are some of the biggest objects in the Universe held together by gravity, evolve over time. More specifically, this result gives them information about how the galaxies that are part of the cluster interact. This includes how this complex system can allow new stars, planets, and other structures to grow in the future.