A team of astronomers used deep radio observations from 53 MHz to 1.5 GHz with the LOFAR Low/High Band Antenna (LBA/HBA) arrays, the Jansky Very Large Array (JVLA) and the upgraded Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) and discovered the existence of a giant radio bridge connecting two pre-merging galaxy clusters A1758N and A1758S that are ~ 2 Mpc apart. This is the second large-scale radio bridge observed to date in a cluster pair. By studying the radio and X-ray emissions from the radio bridge, the astronomers found clear-cut evidence that the non-thermal phenomena in the intracluster medium (ICM) can be produced in the region of compressed gas in-between infalling systems. Cluster Merger: Galaxy Clusters Caught in a First Kiss. Source: Chandra The existence of radio bridges connecting pre-merging galaxy clusters has been confirmed very recently. Hitherto, only two such systems, namely A1758N-A1758S situated at a redshift of z ...
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