Wow, that's crazy. But... um... fireball? Why do they keep saying it's fire? Is it really, because it sounds like the 'flames' are just small particle material being stripped off. Although, if the dang thing is 300 million ly across, the "small particles" could be planet-sized.
Quote:
|
"In Abell 3266 we are seeing structure formation in action," said Professor Mark Henriksen, co-author of the results. "Dark matter is the gravitational glue holding the gas ball together. But as it races through the galaxy cluster, a tug-of-war ensues where the galaxy cluster eventually wins, stripping off and dispersing gas that perhaps one day will seed star and galaxy growth within the cluster."
|
Wow... scientists really need to learn to speak English. :p Especially astronomers. They need a rapport with the public so their funding doesn't keep shrinking and shrinking and... anyway...
"Dark matter" is just astronomerese for "stuff that's not glowing, so we can't see it." Anyone know what a galaxy cluster is? A cluster of material that will form a galaxy, perhaps? How about "structure formation"... come on Dr. Henriksen, lend me a clue.