Astronomers have found that two of our neighboring dwarf galaxies are lock in a heated battle , continuously landing blow on each other as they fight for endurance .
The bailiwick , published in theAstrophysical Journal Lettersand led by The Australian National University ( ANU ) , found that the nearby Large and Small Magellanic Clouds ( LMC and SMC ) , both of which are visible to the au naturel oculus in the Southern Hemisphere , have been pull chunk from each other for gazillion of age .
“ This fight is a plenty like the one that David and Goliath could have had if the little hombre did n’t have such well circumstances with his slingshot , ” say Dr Dougal Mackey from the ANU , the subject ’s lede generator , in astatement .
The researchers found that the dispersion of principal of different ages in the SMC suggested it had had numerous interactions with the LMC over billions of years . Parts of the SMC were found to be being either pushed towards or labour away from the SMC .
However , the LMC has not get away unscathed either , noted Dr Mackey . He said that the parts of it that were unaired to the SMC were “ heavily warped and cut , ” while other constituent also show signs of “ major distortions . ”
The team made their breakthrough using the Dark Energy Camera on the Blanco telescope in Chile . They find that much of the stuff was being flung into the region between the two dwarf beetleweed , which is known as theMagellanic Stream .
It was also discovered that an even smaller Galax urceolata , called Hydrus 1 , was locatedwithin this bridgebetween the SMC And LMC . It ’s only about326 light - yearsacross , relatively tiny compared to our Milky Way , which is 100,000 faint - class across . The LMC and SMC , for equivalence , are about 14,000 and 7,000 faint - years across , respectively .
“ This galaxy is part of a class sleep with as ultra - light dwarfs , the being of which was only key out about 10 years ago , ” said Dr Mackey . “ These are extremely scurvy - smartness midget galaxies , but they still have lots of dark matter . ”
at long last , both the LMC and SMC will be eaten by the Milky Way , possibly in afew hundred million years . Until then , it looks like these two competitors will continue to land blows on each other , as they fight for supremacy on the cosmic field of battle .
Anotherrecent study , using data from ESA ’s Gaia scope , also found grounds for a late collision between the two galaxies . alas for the SMC , however , it does n’t look like it ’s fare quite as well as David in this latest battle .
