Galaxy clusters typically consist of thousands of galaxies held together by strong gravitational forces, with the most powerful black holes ever discovered lying at their centres. In the usual galaxy clusters observed the black holes at their centres were so strong they actually prevented the creation of stars, but the “phoenix cluster” just discovered boasts some key differences that have shocked scientists. The new cluster’s black hole seems far weaker than in other clusters’ with trillions of sun’s masses worth of hot gas cooling around it, allowing the formation of a vast number of stars.
If stronger, the black hole at its centre would prevent this cooling and therefore prevent any creation of stars, but these unique circumstances may provide scientists with some answers to some of the greatest questions ever put to them.
The research could help us better understand the life cycles of galaxies and how they interact with these supermassive blackholes.
A paper published in the Astrophysical Journal last month, explained the processes in these clusters in some easier terms.
“Imagine running an air-conditioner in your house on a hot day, but then starting a wood fire. Your living room can’t properly cool down until you put out the fire,” co-author Brian McNamara from the University of Waterloo, Canada, said in a statement.
The Hubble telescope has observed the “phoenix cluster” (Image: GETTY)
The observations could help us understand the lifecycle of galaxies (Image: GETTY)
“Similarly, when a black hole’s heating ability is turned off in a galaxy cluster, the gas can then cool.”
They found that in the “phoenix cluster” the hot gas was cooling at the same rate as when a blackhole stops injecting energy.
This means stars can be born in the region in huge numbers where the gas has cooled sufficiently.
The X-ray Chandra Observatory noting that the cluster was producing stars at an eye watering 500 times faster than our own Milky Way galaxy.
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The “Phoenix Cluster” produces stars 500 times faster than the Milky Way (Image: GETTY)
However, the authors of the report stressed this “furious rate” won’t last forever.
“These results show that the black hole has temporarily been assisting in the formation of stars, but when it strengthens its effects will start to mimic those of black holes in other clusters, stifling more star birth,” co-author Mark Voit from Michigan State University said in the statement.
The discovery of the new galaxy cluster comes as NASA’s Hubble telescope has also discovered an amazing and “peculiar” feature of a neighbouring galaxy.
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has spotted a “peculiar galaxy” located 130 million light years away that’s bigger than the Milky Way.
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NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has spotted a “peculiar galaxy” located 130 million light years away (Image: NASA)
The Hubble Telescope (Image: GETTY)
The image was captured of the galaxy called NGC 772 which is located in the constellation Aries.
One noticeable difference between the galaxy and our own is the that it does not have a bar, unlike the Milky way which is a barred galaxy.
Bars are bands of bright light caused by structures of dust and gas which run along the centre of galaxies.
In a barred galaxy, bars contribute to the formation of stars by funnelling dust and gas into the core of the galaxy.
The image was captured of the galaxy called NGC 772 which is located in the constellation Aries.
One noticeable difference between the galaxy and our own is the that it does not have a bar, unlike the Milky way which is a barred galaxy.
Bars are bands of bright light caused by structures of dust and gas which run along the centre of galaxies.
In a barred galaxy, bars contribute to the formation of stars by funnelling dust and gas into the core of the galaxy.
In galaxies like NGC 772, this effect is missing, although there is still a lot of dust and gas around for star formation in other parts of the galaxy.
The Hubble Telescope (Image: GETTY)
NGC 772 is also an unusual stretched shape, which means it is technically classified as a “peculiar galaxy.”
The peculiarity in its shape in this case is its arm in the upper portion of the image, which has distorted as its twisted and extended.
The shape is caused by the movements of a nearby satellite galaxy, which is gravitationally bound to a larger galaxy and which orbits around it.
Our galaxy also has satellite galaxies including the Large Magellanic Cloud and Small Magellanic Cloud, but observations made by the Hubble telescope suggest that these galaxies may be moving too fast to truly be in orbit around our galaxy.
However, it is believed that these orbiting galaxies may cause the end of our own as a major collision could cause the black hole at the centre of our galaxy to increase in size destroying everything nearby.
