Superimpose the WEAVE decomposition of Stephan’s Quintet gas onto the JWST image. Red highlights gas shocked by collisions, while green and blue indicate star-forming regions. Purple areas represent unexplained bubbles. The black contours indicate neutral hydrogen, and its position relative to the shocked gas (red) shows where it came from. Credit: Arnaudova et al.
A team of more than 50 astronomers led by Dr Marina Arnaudova from the University of Hersfordshire used a series of first-light observations from the new William Herschel Telescope Extended Area Velocity Explorer (WEAVE) wide-field spectrometer to The observation results were announced. Scientific results on Stephen’s quintet were published in the Monthly Bulletin of the Royal Astronomical Society.
This state-of-the-art wide-field spectrometer is a €20 million project that brings together leading experts from around the world. WEAVE will provide unprecedented detail and revolutionize our understanding of the universe, as demonstrated in this new study of Stephen’s Quintet.
The Stephen Quintet, also known as the Hixon Compact Group 92, is a nearby group of galaxies consisting of five galaxies: NGC 7317, NGC 7318a, NGC 7318b, NGC 7319, and NGC 7320c. The star has fascinated astronomers since it was discovered in 1877. Especially since it represents a galactic intersection where past collisions between galaxies left behind complex debris fields.
The dynamic activity of this group of galaxies was reawakened by NGC 7318b, which barreled through the galaxy at an astonishing speed of more than 2 million miles per hour (3.2 million kilometers per hour), causing an extremely powerful shock similar to a sonic boom. From a jet fighter.
Dr Arnaudova said: “This system provides an ideal laboratory for understanding the chaotic and often violent relationships between galaxies, and for that reason the first light from the WEAVE Large Integral Field Unit (LIFU) It became the focus of observation.”
WEAVE data superimposed on Stephen Quintet’s James Webb Space Telescope images. Green contour lines show radio data from LOFAR. The orange and blue colors reflect the brightness of hydrogen alpha obtained with WEAVE LIFU, which tracks where intergalactic gas is ionized. The hexagon marks the approximate extent of the new WEAVE observations of this system, which is 36 kpc across (the same size as our galaxy, the Milky Way). Credit: Arnaudova et al.
Dr. Arnaudova (University of Hertfordshire, UK) and his team provide new insights into large-scale shock fronts. By combining data from WEAVE’s LIFU with other cutting-edge instruments such as the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR), the Very Large Array (VLA), and the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), we will discover previously undiscovered universes. I discovered the duality of shock.
Dr. Arnaudova explains, “When a shock travels through a pocket of cold gas, it travels at hypersonic speeds, several times the speed of sound, and is powerful enough to rip electrons from atoms, causing the charged gas to Please weave a shining trail.”
PhD student Sowmyadeep Das (University of Hertfordshire, UK) said: “However, when the shock passes through the surrounding hot gas, it becomes much weaker. Instead of causing significant disruption, the weak shock compresses the hot gas, resulting in radio waves that can be detected by radio telescopes like LOFAR.
Dr. Mark Balcells, Director of the Isaac Newton Telescope Group, said: “We are excited to confirm that the data collected with WEAVE First Light is already delivering highly impactful results. I am confident that this is only in the early stages.” This is just one example of the types of discoveries that will be made possible by the William Herschel Telescope’s WEAVE in the coming years. ”
Professor Gavin Dalton, WEAVE Principal Investigator from RAL Space and the University of Oxford, said: “It’s great to see the level of detail revealed here by WEAVE, and the shocks and unfolding collisions seen in Stephen’s Quintet. The same goes for the details.” , these observations provide a surprising perspective on what is happening in the formation and evolution of barely resolved faint galaxies that we see at the limits of our current capabilities. ”
Further information: MI Arnaudova et al., WEAVE First Light Observations: Origin and Dynamics of the Shock Front in Stephan’s Quintet, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2024). DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stae2235
Provided by Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes
Citation: WEAVE Spectrograph Uncovers Dual Nature Shock (November 24, 2024) From https://phys.org/news/2024-11-spectrograph-uncovers-dual-nature-galaxy.html 2024 Retrieved November 25th
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