Building bridges

CHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORY, XMM-NEWTON, GIANT METREWAVE RADIO TELESCOPE, 11 MAY 2020

A bright, superheated arch of gas spans the distance between two vast galaxy clusters in this composite optical, X-ray and radio image. The ‘bridge’ of Abell 2384, 1.2 billion lightyears from Earth, is an unusual remnant of a past collision between the two clusters. Over 3 million lightyears wide and with a mass of 6 trillion Suns, it appears to bend as the result of jets shooting out from a supermassive black hole at the heart of the southern galaxy cluster.