A strange and terrifying structure of the universe has been discovered in a place where it seems no galaxies can survive.
The X-ray Multi-Mirror Mission of the ESA (European Space Agency) has uncovered this structure, which is a colossal gas cloud, larger than the galaxy that contains Earth, the Milky Way, and is classified as a “monster” galaxy.
Close-up image of the strange gas cloud – (Photo: ESA).
According to Associate Professor – Doctor Ming Sun from the University of Alabama Huntsville, this is a “surprising discovery.”
As reported on the ESA website, this “hellish cloud” has a mass equivalent to 10 billion of our Sun, with temperatures ranging from over 9,700 degrees Celsius to nearly 10 million degrees Celsius, belonging to Abell 1367, a galaxy cluster located 330 million light-years away in the Leo constellation.
The strange cloud resides in a “galaxy-less region”, completely isolated from the rest of the Abell 1367 cluster, which contains 70 galaxies grouped together.
Panoramic image of the newly discovered giant cloud (blue) – (Photo: ESA).
Daily Mail suggests that this cloud may have existed for hundreds of millions of years, originating from an ancient galaxy. Its “parent galaxy” may have moved rapidly through hot gas at speeds of 1,000-2,000 km/s, causing part of the gas to be pushed back, separating and forming a giant cloud.
This tremendous speed has helped the cloud maintain a relatively intact shape as it separated, resembling a ghost from the old galaxy.
