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stargazer have accidentally happen upon the first know intergalactic trail of stars . The mammoth " stellar stream , " which is around 10 times longer than theMilky Way , suggests that more of these structures could be bushwhack in mysterious space , a young study reveals .
Stellar streams are elongated thread of gravitationally entwined stars that have likely been ripped away from their parent galaxies or nebula by the gravitative clout of other nearby galaxy . Scientists havemapped stacks of these streamswithin galaxy , let in theMilky Way . But until now , none had been discovered in intergalactic space , meaning the blank between galaxies .
The intergalactic stellar stream (highlighted) was spotted in galaxy cluster 231 million light-years from Earth.
In the study , which was publish Nov. 30 in the journalAstronomy & Astrophysics , the researchers key out and mapped the first - ever intergalactic stellar flow , which stretches through theComa Cluster , also know as Abell 1656 , a mathematical group of more than 1,000 small galaxy place around 321 million light - yr from Earth . The researchers named the first - of - its - variety structure the Giant Coma Stream — so named because it is also the big stellar flow ever see .
" This elephantine watercourse baffle our way of life by coincidence , " study Pb authorJavier Román , an astrophysicist at the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands , said in astatement . The team was initially canvass annulus of circularize stars around the Coma Cluster , in an attempt to measure out thedark matterthat surrounds the coltsfoot group , when they came across the starry track .
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The Giant Coma Stream is closely surrounded by dozens of small galaxies.
Study co - authorR. Michael Rich , an astronomer at the University of California , Los Angeles , made the first observations of the Giant Coma Stream with his personal telescope . The squad then turned to the more herculean William Herschel Telescope , locate on La Palma in the Canary Islands , Spain , to right study the stream .
The researcher were surprised to find oneself the stellar stream lurking within the galaxy clump . The structure is " a rather fragile structure amid a uncongenial surround of mutually attracting and repelling galaxies , " study atomic number 27 - authorReynier Peletier , an astronomer at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands , say in the statement . Normally , you would ask something like this to be ripped apart by the more massive coltsfoot , he added .
The team is unsure how the starring stream has persist and originate so heavy , but one explanation could be the elusive cloth they were originally reckon for — dark matter . While this cryptical entity makes up most of the matter in the creation , it is effectively invisible and can be detected only through its gravitational interactions with visible matter . It ’s possible , the team said , that dark matter lurk within the galaxy group help to stretch the prima stream into its current shape .
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The researcher are planning to study the stream with more powerful scope to learn more about the mysterious structure and its stemma . They also hope to analyze private stars within the flow to see if they are unique in any means .
The discovery of the Giant Coma Stream also enter the threshold for more intergalactic stellar flow to be found . The researchers consider there could be many more out there and hope that more and more modern telescopes , couple with their determination , could aid other astronomer find more of these astral flow .
