Astronomers discover giant 'bridge' in space that could finally solve a violent galactic mystery

Astronomers discover giant 'bridge' in space that could finally solve a violent galactic mystery

Scientists have found evidence for a cosmic collision in the Perseus cluster, a group of thousands of galaxies not far from our own.

Scientists Intrigued by Huge Galactic "Bridge" of Dark Matter

The Perseus cluster is a vast swirl of thousands of galaxies, all bound together by gravity. Famed for its unbelievable size — containing the mass of some 600 trillion suns — it also has a reputation for being one of the few "relaxed" galaxy clusters out there: it shows no signs of having undergone a powerful but disruptive merger with another galaxy, which is how these clusters typically grow. In a word, Perseus looks settled down and pretty st…

Imagine a universe where an invisible substance, which we cannot see or touch, plays a crucial role in the formation of galaxies, stars and planets. This substance is dark matter, one of the great unknowns of modern physics. Although we know that dark matter exists because it affects gravity and, in this, the structure of the cosmos, it does not interact with light or electromagnetic forces, which makes it extremely difficult to study. However, …