Astronomers have spotted two massive galaxies locked in a cosmic tug-of-war 700 million light-years from Earth — and for the first time in such a nearby galaxy, watched as a faint stream of stars is being pulled from one into the other.
The observations, made in the galaxy cluster Abell 3667, revealed a faint, million light-year-long bridge of stars connecting its two brightest galaxies. Astronomers say the cluster is actually the result of two smaller clusters that began merging about a billion years ago, each with its own dominant central galaxy. As these giants — and their satellite galaxies — continue to merge, the bridge of stars between them offers rare insights into the clusters' history and the powerful gravitational forces at play.
