Hong Kong Immigration Life: The University of Hong Kong announced on the 17th that scholars from the university and the University of Manchester in the UK have recently discovered the closest galaxy collision to Earth in history. The process created a new galaxy, forming a pattern as brilliant and magnificent as fireworks. HKU experts hope this will increase young people's interest in astronomy.
A research team led by Professor Quentin Parker of the Department of Physics at the University of Hong Kong and Professor Albert Zijlstra of Astrophysics at the University of Manchester unexpectedly discovered the ring galaxy created by this collision while searching for remnants of dying stars in the Milky Way in Australia. This new galaxy has been named "Kathryn's Wheel."
It is reported that each galaxy contains a large amount of natural gas, which is compressed by the collision to generate shock waves, triggering the formation of new stars. The powerful explosive force created this spectacular, firework-like ring, which illuminates the entire system like a "pinwheel" at a campfire. Such systems are formed by the "bullseye" collision of two galaxies of similar mass and are extremely rare.
Parker told reporters that this galaxy collision was discovered several years ago. The research team subsequently spent a long time observing it repeatedly and conducting careful analysis to confirm the discovery before officially publishing it.
This discovery was announced on the same day in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, published by Oxford University Press.