March 24, 2021

The cosmic jellyfish in the galaxy cluster Abell 2877

An article published in “The Astrophysical Journal” reports a study on the galaxy cluster Abell 2877 conducted with the MWA radio telescope which identified a plasma cloud with a shape similar to a jellyfish. A team led by Torrance Hodgson of the International Center for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) observed Abell 2877 at different radio frequencies and, when they turned the frequency down, they discovered that cosmic structure visible for a short time and only at very few frequencies. It could be plasma ejected about two billion years ago from supermassive black holes in different galaxies that mixed just as shockwaves passed through the cluster, reigniting the plasma for a period that is very short from an astronomical point of view.