This galaxy cluster has mysterious cosmic tendrils over 200,000 light-years long (image)

The radio emission of Tailed Radio Galaxy, observed at 144 MHz with an angular resolution of 0.34 × 0.24 arcseconds, shows a complex and filament-rich structure. In the upper right corner, a close-up of the region centered on the host galaxy is shown, whose nucleus is indicated with a red cross.

Astronomers have obtained the deepest and highest resolution image of the galaxy cluster Abell 2255, observing the unexplained radio-emitting tendrils that trail it in unprecedented detail.

Abell 2255 is a cluster containing between 300 and 500 constituent galaxies, many of which are merging. It's located around 800 million light-years from Earth and spans around 16.3 million light-years. The team behind this research was interested in the so-called "radio galaxies" of this cluster.