A team of astronomers conducted a study on cosmic shock Stretching across 6.5 million light-years, making it the largest shock wave visible from Earth, these giant shock waves are larger than our entire galaxy, and form when groups of galaxies collide, according to researchers led by the University of Hamburg.
According to the British newspaper, “Daily Mail”, our universe is populated with galaxies that are not uniformly scattered but are concentrated in vast structures, the largest of which contain thousands of galaxies, and sometimes, two groups of galaxies They are attracted to each other by the force of gravity, resulting in an inevitable collision, which leads to the generation of spectacular ‘fireworks’ that can be observed using modern radio telescopes, such as the MeerKAT in South Africa.
A pair of galaxy clusters collectively produce cosmic shock waves that travel through the newly formed cluster, and astronomers led by the University of Hamburg in Germany have produced images of the largest ever observed.
It originated from the Abell 3667 galaxy cluster, and might provide insight into the structure of shock waves and galaxy clusters.
The two groups of galaxies that produced the giant shock wave coalesced regarding a billion years ago, resulting in one of the most energetic events since the Big Bang.
Modern radio telescopes can see a pair of giant shock waves, produced by the two galactic groups, propagating as they pass through the newly formed mass, similar to the sound of a supersonic aircraft.
