A Gigantic Wave Of Hot Gas Swirling Near Perseus Galaxy Detected

Scientists discovered a gigantic wave of hot gas swirling near the Perseus galaxy cluster based on the data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. It is located 250 million light-years away from the planet Earth and could have likely formed billions of years ago.

A Cosmic Tsunami Twice the Size of the Milky Way Roils Perseus Galaxy Cluster https://t.co/gkHBdISHaC pic.twitter.com/4H2fCwA29c

— Alton Parrish (@nanopatents) May 4, 2017

Stephen Walker, the lead author from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, said that the wave they have detected is linked with the flyby of a smaller cluster that shows the merger activity that generated these giant structures is still ongoing. The researchers theorized that billion years ago, a smaller galaxy cluster merged with the Perseus cluster. This has caused Perseus' supply of interstellar gas discharged around. It resulted to a tsunami-like wave that could be seen glowing in X-ray, according to Gizmodo.

Scientists Find Giant Wave Rolling Through the Perseus Galaxy Cluster https://t.co/vKl3XlH40a — Craig Brownell (@tarotcards) May 4, 2017

John ZuHone, an astrophysicist from Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, explained that galaxy cluster mergers signify the latest stage of the formation of structure in the cosmos. He further explained that hydrodynamic simulations of merging clusters allow them to create features in the hot gas and tune physical parameters like the magnetic field. With this, they could attempt to match the detailed characteristics of the structures they observe in X-rays, as noted by Space.com.

Meanwhile, Walker said that the bay feature they see in Perseus could be a part of a Kelvin-Helmholtz wave. This could be the largest ever detected that shaped in much the same way as the simulation shows. They also identified the same features in the two other galaxy clusters, namely the Abell 1795 and the Centaurus.