A recent study revealed what can happen when the two largest objects in the universe collide, and said that this creates one of the largest shock waves in the universe.

An international team of astronomers led by the Hamburg Observatory made the most detailed images of the largest cosmic shock waves ever observed.

The observations are based on data from the MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa and are published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.

It is known that galaxies are not distributed evenly across the universe, but rather gather in so-called galaxy clusters, which are bound together by gravity.

But gravity also causes galaxy clusters to be attracted to one another—and inevitable collisions occur. The collisions of galaxy clusters are described as the largest astronomical events since the dawn of the universe.

When groups of galaxies collide, giant cosmic shock waves are created that travel through the newly formed group of galaxies.

Now, an international group of astronomers led by Dr. Francesco de Gasperin, a former professor at the University of Hamburg and now a visiting scientist at the Hamburg observatory, has produced images of the largest shock wave ever observed using data from the MeerKAT radio telescope.

High-resolution images from the Abell 3667 galaxy cluster provide unique insights to date into the structure of cosmic shock waves.

“Abell 3667” is located about 730 million light-years from Earth, and it is a group of galaxies in a state of chaos. Abell 3667 is actually made up of two clusters (or groups) of galaxies colliding with each other, and contains more than 550 individual galaxies that are slowly moving in the large cosmic mixture.

Although it is not easily visible to most telescopes, this cosmic collision caused a huge disturbance in the region, represented by a giant shock wave emanating from either side of the merged mass, and it can only be seen in radio waves.

Using the MeerKAT Radio Telescope Array in South Africa, scientists imaged the two halves of the radio component of the shock wave, also called “radio remnants”, and found that the structures are much more complex than previous observations indicated.

Scientists reveal detailed images of the largest shock wave in the universe, 60 times the size of the Milky Way
south african radio astronomy observatory/ Francesco de Gasperin, SARAO
“Cosmic shock waves are full of surprises and much more complex than we first thought,” says Francesco de Gasperin. He explains: “The shock waves act as giant particle accelerators and accelerate electrons almost to the speed of light. When these fast electrons cross the magnetic field, they emit long-wave radiation that can be observed with the help of radio telescopes. The shock waves are interconnected by a complex pattern of bright filaments that track the location of the giant magnetic field lines. and regions where electrons are accelerated.

According to scientists, the shock wave first exploded about a billion years ago, when the two groups of galaxies that make up Abell 3667 first collided. Galaxy clusters are the largest gravitationally bound structures in the universe.

When two of them merged, the team said, they released the most energy in a single event since the Big Bang.

When the wave shot electrons into space at a speed close to the speed of light, the particles penetrated the magnetic fields in the region and released the double arcs of radio waves we see today.

The scientists found that these radio arcs are moving at more than 3.3 million miles per second (5.3 million kilometers per second), and they are about 13 million light-years apart. Each measures 60 times larger than the entire Milky Way, which spans about 100,000 light-years in diameter.