Galactic skirmish - scientists saw one galaxy shoot a plasma jet at another

Astronomers have managed to record one galaxy shooting plasma into another. A team of scientists led by Ananda Hota from the University of Mumbai in India has succeeded.

Here's What We Know

The scientists observed the galaxies RAD12-A (the smaller one) and RAD12-B (the larger one). During the observation, the astronomers saw RAD12-A shoot a jet of plasma into RAD12-B. The event is not an ordinary one, although it has its own uniqueness.

Researchers have previously discovered five pairs of galaxies in which one shoots plasma into another. However, in the case of RAD12 (A and B), there is one interesting nuance. It is that the smaller galaxy fired plasma into the larger galaxy, while in the five previous cases the opposite was true.

Scientists believe a black hole, which absorbs matter and emits relativistic jets, is to blame for the galaxies' behaviour. A pair of RAD12 galaxies confirms that jets have been observed in older galaxies which are elliptical in shape. On the one hand, RAD12-A has reduced the intensity of star formation after the shot. On the other hand, RAD12-B triggered star formation processes after getting gas.

Indian scientists will continue to study the RAD12 galaxy pair. Moreover, their work has been selected for publication in the International Astronomical Union's annual collection of scientific papers. This means that other scientists will be able to continue working on the study.

Source: ScienceAlert