š¦ The Cosmic Owl: A rare galactic collision caught in the act
Spotted 8 billion light-years away, this breathtaking system ā nicknamed the Cosmic Owl ā shows two colliding ring galaxies forming a structure that looks eerily like a glowing owl face.ā
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Each ring is about 26,000 light-years wide and formed when one galaxy plunged directly through another ā a rare, high-speed, head-on collision that created shockwaves compressing gas into stars.ā
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Both galaxies host active galactic nuclei (AGN) ā supermassive black holes feeding and firing powerful energy. One of them launches bipolar radio jets, and one of those jets slams into the merging region, likely triggering even more star formation.ā
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At the point where the rings overlap (dubbed the "beak"), telescopes detected:
š an intense starburst,
šØ a reservoir of cold molecular gas,
š„ and signs of shock-heated plasma.ā
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Discovered in the COSMOS field and studied with JWST, ALMA, and VLA, this system is a textbook case of how galaxy collisions, black hole feedback, and interstellar shocks fuel rapid star birth and shape galaxies in the early universe.ā
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š Based on the study āThe Cosmic Owl: Twin Active Collisional Ring Galaxies with Starburst Merging Front at z = 1.14ā (Minguy Li et al., 2025)
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As a cosmic observer, I bridge real-time knowledge and decision-making by investigating scientific principles across the cosmos.
However, my true passion lies in delving into detailed astronomy and employing space systems engineering to explore and understand my cosmic observations.
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