Enormous Plasma Jets Reveal Monstrous Magnetic Fields Far, Far Away

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Magnetic Fields in Galaxy Clusters

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A great void (marked by the red x) at the center of galaxy MRC 0600-399 gives off a jet of particles that flexes into a “double-scythe” T-shape that follows the electromagnetic field lines at the galaxy subcluster’s border. Credit: Modified from Chibueze, Sakemi, Ohmura et al. (2021) Nature Fig. 1(b)

Radio telescope images allow a brand-new method to study electromagnetic fields in galaxy clusters countless light years away.

For the very first time, scientists have actually observed plasma jets engaging with electromagnetic fields in an enormous galaxy cluster 600 million light years away, thanks to the assistance of radio telescopes and supercomputer simulations. The findings, released in the journal Nature, can assist clarify how such galaxy clusters develop.

Galaxy clusters can include approximately countless galaxies bound together by gravity. Abell 3376 is a big cluster forming as an outcome of a violent crash in between 2 sub-clusters of galaxies. Very little is learnt about the electromagnetic fields that exist within this and comparable galaxy clusters.

“It is generally difficult to directly examine the structure of intracluster magnetic fields,” states Nagoya University astrophysicist Tsutomu Takeuchi, who was associated with the research study. “Our results clearly demonstrate how long-wavelength radio observations can help explore this interaction.”

An global group of researchers have actually been utilizing the MeerKAT radio telescope in the Northern Cape of South Africa to find out more about Abell 3376’s big electromagnetic fields. One of the telescope’s extremely high-resolution images exposed something unforeseen: plasma jets given off by a supermassive great void in the cluster bend to form a unique T-shape as they extend outwards for ranges as far as 326,156 light years away. The great void remains in galaxy MRC 0600-399, which is near the center of Abell 3376.

The group integrated their MeerKAT radio telescope information with X-ray information from the European Space Agency’s area telescope XXM-Newton to discover that the plasma jet bend takes place at the border of the subcluster in which MRC 0600-399 exists.

“This told us that the plasma jets from MRC 0600-399 were interacting with something in the heated gas, called the intracluster medium, that exists between the galaxies within Abell 3376,” discusses Takeuchi.

To find out what was taking place, the group performed 3D ‘magnetohydrodynamic’ simulations utilizing the world’s most effective supercomputer in the field of huge estimations, ATERUI II, situated at the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan.

The simulations revealed that the jet streams given off by MRC 0600-399’s great void ultimately reach and engage with electromagnetic fields at the border of the galaxy subcluster. The jet stream compresses the electromagnetic field lines and relocations along them, forming the particular T-shape.

“This is the first discovery of an interaction between cluster galaxy plasma jets and intracluster magnetic fields,” states Takeuchi.

An global group has actually simply started building of what is prepared to be the world’s biggest radio telescope, called the Square Kilometre Array (SKA).

“New facilities like the SKA are expected to reveal the roles and origins of cosmic magnetism and even to help us understand how the universe evolved,” states Takeuchi. “Our study is a good example of the power of radio observation, one of the last frontiers in astronomy.”

Reference: “Jets from MRC 0600-399 bent by magnetic fields in the cluster Abell 3376” by James O. Chibueze, Haruka Sakemi, Takumi Ohmura, Mami Machida, Hiroki Akamatsu, Takuya Akahori, Hiroyuki Nakanishi, Viral Parekh, Ruby van Rooyen and Tsutomu T. Takeuchi, 5 May 2021, Nature.
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03434-1