Recent observations from the WEAVE (William Herschel Telescope Enhanced Area Velocity Explorer) spectrograph have provided significant insights into the dynamics of Stephan's Quintet, a group of five interacting galaxies. Focused on NGC 7318b, which is moving at over 3.2 million kilometers per hour, researchers observed the immense shockwave generated by its collision with the other galaxies.
Dr. Arnaudova noted that this system serves as an ideal laboratory for studying the chaotic interactions between galaxies. The findings, published in the 'Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS)', utilized data from WEAVE's Large Integral Field Unit (LIFU) alongside advanced tools such as LOFAR and the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).
The study revealed that as the shockwave travels through cold gas, it reaches hypersonic speeds, powerful enough to ionize gas and create a glowing trail. Conversely, when the shockwave interacts with surrounding hot gas, it weakens and compresses it, generating detectable radio waves.
Dr. Marc Balcells from the Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes expressed enthusiasm over the high-impact results achieved with WEAVE's initial observations, indicating that this is just the beginning of significant discoveries enabled by the new technology.
WEAVE, a €20 million project involving collaboration among institutions from the UK, Spain, the Netherlands, France, and Italy, features components such as a fibre positioner from the University of Oxford and a spectrograph constructed by NOVA in the Netherlands. This international consortium aims to address critical astrophysical questions over the next decade.
In summary, the WEAVE spectrograph is poised to enhance our understanding of galactic interactions and the formation of faint galaxies, marking a significant milestone in astrophysics research.