Largest bridge of hydrogen atoms discovered

As part of the AGES project, scientists are exploring a huge celestial area with the help of the Arecibo telescope with very high sensitivity. From 2008 to 2011, he helped obtain unique data. Studying them, under the guidance of experienced astronomers, discovered a length of 2.6 million light years “bridge” consisting of hydrogen atoms. It is located between two galaxies, between which the distance is almost fifty million light years. About the discovery was published a detailed article in a well-known journal.

This stream, which consists of hydrogen atoms currently known, is considered the largest. However, scientists are surprised that it is not so much its length as the huge amount of gas contained. Its mass in the discovered bridge exceeds the solar one by fifteen million times. Such a huge cluster has not yet been found. The mass of the cluster is higher than in the two largest galaxies – ours and Andromeda, said Roberto Rodriguez, a participant in the experiment.

While the work of scientists continues. They explore the source of such a powerful stream. Further studies are planned: to create a computer model that will help specialists to establish which of the existing hypotheses is correct.

Source: planetologia.ru/