Galaxies Battle in ‘Cosmic Joust’ Witnessed by Astronomers for the First Time

Space photo of the week: Violent galaxies seen 'jousting' near the dawn of time

The new image shows one galaxy piercing another with intense quasar radiation. Astronomers likened the violent galaxy collision to a medieval joust.

Star war: Galaxies battle in ‘cosmic joust’ witnessed by astronomers for the first time

Using combined observations from ground-based telescopes over nearly four years, the researchers saw the distant galactic neighbors charging toward each other at more than 1.1 million miles per hour.

Astronomers saw an entire galaxy "turn on the lights" in real-time

Astronomers watched as a galaxy with the forgettable name SDSS1335+0728 suddenly sprang to life when its massive black hole woke up.

Scientists spot high-speed galaxy collision 11 billion light-years away: 'We hence call this system the cosmic joust'

A galactic collision 11 billion light-years away reveals how an actively feeding supermassive black hole disrupts star formation in a nearby galaxy.

Astronomers Intrigued by Galaxy Blasting Its Neighbor With Giant Energy Beam

As two distant galaxies trade blows in an ancient duel billions of years old, one belligerent has clearly proven itself more ruthless than the other. Each time the galaxies conclude their posturing and charge in for a clash, one of them impales its opponent with a powerful beam of radiation, crippling its ability to form new stars. In cosmic terms, it's the definition of a below the belt blow — and a massive one at that. This lopsided showdown w…

‘Cosmic joust’: Astronomers catch first sight of two dueling galaxies

Astronomers witnessed two galaxies engaged in an intense deep-space battle for the first time. Watch the “cosmic joust” in action.