The Most Powerful Impact from Space Has Reached Earth

British astronomers have recorded one of the most powerful shockwaves in history, which has ever reached Earth from the depths of space. This was caused by a collision between one galaxy and its four neighbors. The Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society published a study on this subject.

The collision occurred in a group of galaxies known as the Stephan’s Quintet, located 290 million light-years away from Earth. According to astronomers, one of the galaxies, NGC 7318b, collided with the other four galaxies at a speed of 3.2 million kilometers per hour, creating an incredibly powerful shock front that resembles the sonic boom of a jet fighter.

Marina ARNOLDOVAN, an astrophysicist from the University of Hertfordshire in Great Britain, noted that this is essentially a massive intergalactic debris field. She called the event a rare opportunity for humanity to witness the complex interplay of colliding galaxies.